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Board » General Discussion » New Blog Site for SOLers



Announcing the opening of solfans.org -- a new blog site by and for SOL fans.
The site will offer in-depth looks at SOL-related subjects including:
-- routers and routing
-- race strategy
-- weather impact
-- VMG/VMC tactics
-- PERF calculations
-- and more....
The site administrators are kroppyer and javakeda.

SOLers who blog, or would like to blog, are invited to become contributors. The solfans crew can help you with the mechanics of getting that first post published.

All SOLers are invited to check out the articles at
solfans.org
Two new blog posts went up today.

Kroppyer posted a guide to his SailOnLine Performance Calculator. The calculator helps skippers determine the PERF cost of a tack or gybe.

My post shows how WINSTON saved time at the end of The Vineyard race by using a VMC heading. Easy to do if you know how.

Check them both out at solfans.org.
In case you haven't noticed, new posts have been published. outlaw started a series, SOL Sailing School, which you should surely check out.

solfans.org

--- Last Edited by kroppyer at 2014-12-04 10:38:32 ---
Excellent ! Thanks for the heads up, and of course thanks to outlaw for sharing a bit of his knowledge to people like me (ever rookie solers)
Another heads up: If you haven't already, check out the new posts on solfans.org. Two amazing, technical race reports from a SOTP view, and outlaw explains more about using VMC, methods that are (in my mind) essential to fully understand small- and midscale racing.

If you have any questions about the posts, don't hesitate to ask, here or on solfans, in the chat or any other way.
More very useful posts as ever: thanks for running this, chaps.

Is this the place to post requests for future articles? (If not, then ignore the rest of this...)

In the excellent intro to qtvlm, the 'final word' section refers to the need for interpretation of the routing created. I was wondering if there could be a follow-up to this guide, showing what is meant by this, what to be looking for, what potential traps blindly following a routing may lead one into, etc.


Many thanks!
Excellent point :) I was (and still am) planning to write more about using QtVLM.

Interpreting the routing results (in combination with other data/forecasts/pilots) is something I don't fully master. I'd be winning more if I did. But I will try and expand on the 'defects' routers have, and what information you can get out of a routing other than the supposed fastest route.
These were really great reads, thank you
outlaw gives some insight in interpreting and understanding router output, here. In this case it's BWR's output, but it'll help you with QtVLM too.

I still hope I find the time to write a follow up on using QtVLM (as I said above), but at least you now have outlaws post to help you with the isochrones :)

--- Last Edited by kroppyer at 2015-01-23 00:02:51 ---

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Mad Max by Balloon 2026 - Across the Outback


Mad Max Rockatansky doesn’t get to go in a balloon in any of the Legends of the Wasteland, and the Wasteland is not necessarily the Outback of Australia, but Mel Gibson and film director George Miller indubitably are… of Australia, and ballooning as reconnaissance is a main feature of the Mad Max spin-off video game, so here goes: 1500nm in a balloon from somewhere on the edge of the Outback, Goondiwindi, to cross a finish line at Fitzroy Crossing, somewhere on the edge of the Outback!
Race #1974
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Valdes Peninsula TIMED Race 2026

October finds us on the Argentina coast for the Valdes Peninsula race. A UNESCO World Heritage Site the peninsula is a breeding ground for southern right whales. Sail the luxurious blue water Delphia 47 around a 160 nm course in an attempt to turn in the fastest time.
This is a TIMEDrace so you may RE-REGISTER HEREto try again after finishing a run. You will have two weeks to test your skill and decision making after the race opens.
Race #2066
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Roma Giraglia Regata 2026

Our eighth race of nine to celebrate all things Mediterranean - fickle winds, history and olive oil – is another buddy-up; this one with the Circolo Nautico Riva di Traiano . Founded in 1984, as the new Traiano yacht Harbour neared completion, the Circola since then has developed into one of the major yachting competition centres in Italy, and next to the 450nm Roma per Tutti (which SOL buddied earlier in the year), the Roma Giraglia Regata is its other headline offshore event. First raced in 2005, the 210nm course takes competitors from Traiano to a rock on the inside of the Ile de la Giraglia off the northern tip of Corsica and back to the Italian mainland for a finish in the bay of Santo Stefano. We’re racing this one in our Class 40!
Race #2058
INFO by brainaid.de
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Race starts: Oct 08th 16:00 Registration Closed

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Arctic Tern - Greenland to Antarctica 2025

Welcome to the fifth leg of our MIG series. Now it's time to race the Arctic Terns, on their migration from Greenland to Antarctica, 8300 NM. This is also part of our monthly Ocean Championship, and as such the first race of OCQ4 2026. This race will be sailed in our Maxi Trimaran. Race #2061
INFO by brainaid.de
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Cross the Convergence 2026 - Masirah to Chagos


Having crossed, re-crossed and re-re-crossed the Convergence Zones of the Pacific and the Atlantic, we now face our second crossing of the Convergence Zone of the World’s third great equator-spanning sea, the Indian Ocean, taking us from the channel between Masirah Island and the Oman mainland to the Chagos Archipelago. It’s 1900nm and we’ll be sailing our very fine Archer 78, and won’t mention that both locations (of departure and arrival) are heavily militarized and the why’s and what next’s concerning that – mindful as always of SOL Netiquette.
Race #1988
INFOby brainaid.de
Archer 78PARTICULARS
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Race starts: Oct 02nd 18:00 Registration Closed
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