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Board » General Discussion » TWA as the angle to the wind?

Posted by
Rod


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2010-06-24 22:30:48
2014-06-28 13:39:38 - TWA as the angle to the wind?
Having been caught out by changes in the wind direction overnight, prior to a very early morning start time, I would like to suggest a small addition to the options available for course setting.
Is it possible to have a third option, in addition to the CC and TWA, in which an "angle to the wind" can be selected that does not refer to any specific wind direction?
This way, if the wind direction in the Wx changes, during the night, (or while the SOLer is away from his/her computer) the boat will start at a specified angle to the new wind direction, rather than to the compass course TWA to the old wind direction.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.
Posted by
kroppyer


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2010-02-05 15:25:55
2014-06-28 16:36:11 - Re: TWA as the angle to the wind?
So, a cc command based on the twd at the time of execution? What the command does at execution is basically, putting the given value in the twa box then selecting cc and then pressing "send command"?

So, you would be happy with the following:
a command: "switch", which switches your boat from twa to cc, or from cc to twa without changing course. That means that your proposed command will look like to following:
12:00:00 twa 45
12:00:15 switch (to cc)

I'd like that.

When we have that, it would be nice to have some other way to trigger the switch command, like "when twa<45, switch (to twa)". And using those triggers for other commands will be very useful too: "when cc=200, tack".

I like that too!

Of course, another trigger would be based on your position: "when on layline, tack", "when at mark, cc=200"

Oh wonderful!

When you're doing that, using waypoints comes into play. And you can think of a lot of new commands based on combinations with waypoints and cc/twa/switch commands that will come in handy.

Many new options!

Question is, do we want all that, when you understand it all, it might make life easier, but many will argue that, instead of making it easier, it is making it more complex, with all the new options.

Maybe a bit too much options...

All in all, things like this will forever change the game and are not to be thought about very lightly.
Posted by
Rod


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392
Registered at
2010-06-24 22:30:48
2014-06-28 17:17:22 - Re: TWA as the angle to the wind?
What I was thinking about was a TWA angle to the wind only at the time it is executed at the START. I note that many boats start in directions that do not make much sense. I have wondered if the cause was that the commands were set long before the actual start and the Wx has changed substantially in the intervening time.
I agree that such a command option, if effective DURING the race, would substantially alter the DC process in ways that we may not desire.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough--if it doesn't, it's too heavy.

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