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Getting a Polar Diagram for your boat…

Russ — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:27:03 +0000

Having researched the articles on optimal routing recently, one of the many avenues of related research that presented itself was of course to do with determining what your boat performance characteristics really are. For a sailing yacht this at the very least involves having as reasonably accurate Polar Diagram.

My previous posting entitled “Boat characteristics and learning to Wally” generated some comments from readers which are worth following up.

I have now discovered that the University of Technology at Delft have developed a mathematical model based on their research into hull

.......Click Getting a Polar Diagram for your boat… .... to continue reading

Chart plotting software..

Russ — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:32:31 +0000

While researching my 7 part article on Routing Software I came across a number of packages that just amazed me in their sophistication or some aspect of their functionality that I thought was particularly good. Some of these packages are very low cost or even free. Many will run on handhelds or netbooks. Some will import and export waypoints, routes and tracks to the big name chart plotters.

The thrust of my previous article was of course Weather Routing NOT chart plotting. In other words taking into account all the data inputs such as GPS, Wind,

.......Click Chart plotting software.. .... to continue reading

EPIRB Update

Russ — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 08:39:08 +0000

Last year I did a quick summary of the EPIRB products then available because I had come to replace my old 121Mhz EPIRB.

The 406 MHz units were designed specifically for satellite detection and Doppler location, and provide the following:

improved location accuracy and ambiguity resolution; increased system capacity (i.e. capability to process a greater number of beacons transmitting simultaneously in field of view of satellite); increased probability of detection (higher power); global coverage; and unique identification of each beacon.

System performance is greatly enhanced both by the improved frequency stability of the 406

.......Click EPIRB Update .... to continue reading

5in. All in one chart plotter + AIS receiver for less than £500!

Russ — Fri, 21 May 2010 12:44:09 +0000

The Digital Yacht SC500A GPS Chart Plotter with built in AIS Receiver is really the sort of thing that the ill fated Raymarine RC400 could have evolved into.

To be fair I have used the RC400 mounted at the helm of my 32ft yacht, and despite all its faults and initial hiccups in getting it to work at all I must say that it has withstood both hell and high water and worked very well for the past 4 years. The trouble is that it doesn’t link to anything and connecting it to PC based chart

.......Click 5in. All in one chart plotter + AIS receiver for less than £500! .... to continue reading

Raymarine a global British Brand – shame about the Directors!

Russ — Sun, 16 May 2010 17:23:27 +0000

Another sad day for the British marine industry May 14, 2010.

….”Raymarine plc (the “Company”), a global leader in the supply of electronic products to the leisure marine market, has today reached agreement to sell its shares in Raymarine Holdings Limited to a subsidiary of FLIR Systems, Inc. (“FLIR”) a world leader in thermal imaging products. The sale represents the entire business operations of Raymarine and its subsidiaries. On 29 April 2010, following an extensive M&A process, the Company’s directors announced to shareholders that they were in advanced discussions with a third party regarding the

.......Click Raymarine a global British Brand – shame about the Directors! .... to continue reading

Related posts:
Raymarine share price rockets…

Garmin in talks to buy Britain’s Raymarine

Buy Raymarine AIS500 or buy £800 of Raymarine shares?

Which smartphone for your nav software?

Russ — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:58:35 +0000

I havent updated my page on Phones here for sometime – for one thing the market innovation has just raced at such a speed it is almost impossible to keep up!

There can be no doubt that small handheld devices, more powerful than todays laptops will become commonplace – connected to huge datacentres like Amazon Cloud Front, Google, or Microsoft Azure and across the web for the provision all sorts of services from weather to location to social
.......Click Which smartphone for your nav software? .... to continue reading
Related posts:
Which phone for your boat?

Mobile phone confusion !

Connecting a Smartphone (WM6) to Vista

Polar diagrams in MaxSea TZ

Russ — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:28:55 +0000

Following the post called “Boat characteristics and learning to wally!” I had a number of mails about polar diagrams see also the comments to that post from Peter Gustafsson.

I can confirm that MaxSea TZ does have a comprehensive polar diagram creation option. It does not assume that the port and starboard speeds are symetrical (like some software). And you can create the diagram automatically

You can then edit the results to take into account special considerations on the day that you made your recording – such as sea state.

You
.......Click Polar diagrams in MaxSea TZ .... to continue reading
Related posts:
Routing 4 of 7 : Boat characteristics & learning to Wally!

Getting a Polar Diagram for your boat…

Reading electrical diagrams

Routing 7 of 7 : – Conclusion & Oscar Ceremony :-)

Russ — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:22:56 +0000

I do hope that you have found this series of articles delving into optimal routing software interesting. My personal objective was to learn a lot about routing – and I certainly think I did that. I also thought I would find what was the “best” system on the market – no chance – I am afraid life is not that simple!.

One thing I have found is a new and deep respect for the software developers behind these system – as well as their obvious skill and passion for sailing. While I realise that there may well
.......Click Routing 7 of 7 : – Conclusion & Oscar Ceremony :-) .... to continue reading
Related posts:
Routing 2b of 7 : Routing planning and optimisation an extra brain as well as a pair of hands…

Routing 2a of 7 : Routing planning and optimisation an extra brain as well as a pair of hands…

Routing 5 of 7 : Algorithms

Routing 6 of 7 : A Chart by any other name…

Russ — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:35:37 +0000

Most sailors are well aware of the difference between Raster and Vector charts. I have access to both on board plus of course real paper – albeit gradually getting out of date I think we are all past having long debates about which format is better. You will probably have huge amounts of storage on your laptop or various USB drives – so long as you archive and backup all those terribly interesting digital photos and videos!.

If you are like me you will just download and store all the charts that you can get your hands
.......Click Routing 6 of 7 : A Chart by any other name… .... to continue reading
Related posts:
Chart plotting software..

Routing 2a of 7 : Routing planning and optimisation an extra brain as well as a pair of hands…

Routing 2b of 7 : Routing planning and optimisation an extra brain as well as a pair of hands…

Routing 5 of 7 : Algorithms

Russ — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:56:22 +0000

At last we come to the heart of the issue at hand, the optimal routing algorithm.

This is where the software must now manipulate:
The planning criteria such as waypoints, arrival time, departure times and so on Real time instrument data, and any fine tuning parameters stored by the user eg. True wind adjustments Boat characteristics and polars either general or specific to the boat Tidal stream data both general from charts and specific based on local knowledge or higher quality data from the supplier Weather data both actual and forecast Collision avoidance such as AIS, MARPA, charted obstacles,
.......Click Routing 5 of 7 : Algorithms .... to continue reading
Related posts:
Routing 2b of 7 : Routing planning and optimisation an extra brain as well as a pair of hands…

Routing 2a of 7 : Routing planning and optimisation an extra brain as well as a pair of hands…

Routing 7 of 7 : – Conclusion & Oscar Ceremony :-)