Departure Planning preferences can be set from the settings wheel in the top right corner of the Departure Planning page.
Routing preferences can be set from the settings wheel in the top right corner of the weather routing page.
Space Departure
You can choose to plan your departure 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 or 24 hours apart to choose the best time to leave on your next offshore passage. These settings can be changed in the Set Start Times box, which is symbolised by the white square with the clock face next to the green Calculate button.
Forecast Model
Select between the PredictWind Models (PWG/PWE) or the GFS (Global Forecast System from NOAA) / ECMWF(European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) models. The PredictWind models (PWG/PWE) are initialized from the GFS/ECMWF observations, but run our proprietary forecast model. In most cases you will get a more accurate forecast using the PredictWind models due to the higher resolution. The GFS/ECMWF models are provided as a comparison, being used by many other weather sites.
Polars
Polars define the performance of the yacht/power boat in different wind/wave conditions. It is important to define this accurately, so the optimal route is correct. You have the option to adjust the speed and apply penalties for tacking and gybing:
Predefined
A list of popular yachts are listed. Select the closest yacht from the drop down list as well as motoring speeds below a certain wind speed if you are cruising or delivering a racing yacht.
Power Polars
This allows you to define a polar curve for a power boat. Simply fill in the boat speeds for the different conditions, and the performance curve will be calculated.
Sail Polars
Similarly this allows you to define a basic polar curve for a yacht. Simply fill in the boat speeds for the different conditions, and the performance curve will be calculated.
Advanced Polars
Allows you to edit and save your own custom polar curve to match the performance of your boat. You will need to do this from a PC/Mac computer. Once you are logged into your account via a PC/Mac, you can simply change the numbers, being careful to keep the same format, and spacing. Please use spaces not tabs. The polar will be automatically saved after you perform a routing.
Wave Polars
Wave Polars adjust the boats performance depending on the wave forecast. You will need to log into your account via a PC/Mac computer to be able to adjust this setting. This table allows you to adjust performance of the boat in all wave conditions. Use a % factor for the boat speed in the table below in various wave conditions. This is particularly important for light displacement boats.
The angles 0 45 90 135 180 are the angle of the wave relative to the direction of the boat. ie 0 degrees is a wave approaching from the bow and 180 degrees is a wave approaching from the stern.
Ocean Currents
If this option is selected the routing algorithm uses ocean currents. The data is updated every day using real-time Satellite Data.
Tidal Currents
If this option is selected the routing algorithm uses tidal currents. On the Google Map zoom out to see the areas that have Tidal Current data - the red squares.