Facebook

Login

Support Sailonline

If you haven't already - join the SAILONLINE YACHT CLUB!

Please also consider making a donation - all amounts are greatly appreciated!

Board » Technical Support » VO70-v4 and VO70 Polars

Question for Kalle as he part answered my chat question (12/1/09). The old VO70 polar had the 9 and 15 knot wind speed lines showing boat speeds greater than the boat speed shown by the 30 knot wind line for TWA from 0 to 30 and 40 degrees respectively. So we could expect that a current wind speed line from above 6 to 15 knots would likely show intermediate boat speed similarly. The new VO70-v4 polar shows boat speeds for all permanent wind speed lines increasing as the wind speed increases for all angles of TWA. So today I was surprised to see the 21.8 wind speed line plotting outwith the 30 knot line for TWA from 0 to 40. I'm sending a screen shot of the polar. Is the new VO70-v4 polar operating correctly?
Attachments
Hi, well my name is not Kalle but I am a also one of the guys behind the game and maybe I can help. Your observations are correct and I understand your question. The colored curves we have chosen to show does not at all have to show maximum boat speeds, it is in fact extremely unlikely. Thus, your observation is correct and the polar might be "fairly ok too" :-) ok?
...one of the guys behind the game...
Jakob, Thanks for your reply. But looking at your manual, para 1.7 "The boat performance" you imply there that the polar diagram is accurate - e.g. you say "For a certain wind speed and TWA you can read the corresponding boat speed..." Your current response implies that we cannot rely on the boat speed curves you have shown. As I said - the old VO70 polar showed that for lower wind speeds up to 40 TWA we could expect greater boat speed than for the 30 knot wind curve. The new VO70 does not give any indication that the same could occur. Old VO70 attached.
Attachments
Well, two things. 1) The old polar is just that - old. We changed the polar since it behaved a little strangely at low twa:s. The new polar is better in that respect. 2) The actual performance routine in the code is continuous in the sense that the boatspeed can be calulated for all combinations of twa and tws. The graphical representation of that we call the polar is accurate (!) but not showing the boat speed at all combinations of twa and tws. ok?
...one of the guys behind the game...
Thanks Jakob, I guess I have to accept it. Reason I'm so fussy is that as an Excel exercise, I was trying to build an Excel file to help me get best course, and a fundamental of that has been to make a print of the polar and scale off the data, have the Excel do graphs - get equations from these, enter the formulae into a look up table etc etc. I see from your answer to Frank Putman on 15Mar2008 that you don't give out the tabular data, so there's no point in asking you for it I guess.
Well yes, so far we have not given away the tabulated data. if you are doing the interpolation yourself try to use cubic splines in both twa- and tws-directions to get results resembling mine ;-)
...one of the guys behind the game...
Hi Jakob,

Thanks again for your advice. I will see what I can do and maybe will email you with results if I think I'm successful.

Best wishes,

Andy

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m


Current Races:

Magical Mediterranean 2026 - Benghazi to Korcula

We return to Antiquity’s Middle Sea for a seventh celebration of all things Mediterranean - fickle winds, history and olive oil. This time we will sail from ancient Benghazi, whence once grain shipped continuously to feed Rome’s urban masses, to the medieval Venetian thalassocracy’s port of Korcula, birthplace of Marco Polo; 700nm in classy Club Swan 50s!
Race #1978
INFO by brainaid.de
Club Swan 50 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: MED - SYC
Race starts: Jul 27th 15:00 Registration Open!

▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Red Eye 2026 - Georgian Bay

Welcome to the sensational scenic Georgian Bay of northern Lake Huron, the first area of the Great Lakes to be visited by Europeans in 1615, so former SOLer A2R informed us when he designed this geometrically tortuous course of 317nm criss-cross through its island maze. Originally known as Lake Manitoulin, in 1822 the bay was renamed after King George IV after his succession to the throne. This time we’ll take the very flashy Fareast 31R, which hopefully should keep you wide awake!
Race #2051
INFOby brainaid.de
Fareast 31R PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: RED - SYC
Race starts: Jul 26th 08:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Tall Ships 2026 - Stavanger to Aalborg


Welcome to the fourth of four virtual Tall Ships Races in European waters which are concurrently being organized in-real-life by Sail Training International . This fourth race is from Stavanger in Norway into the Skaggerak to a finish off Denmark’s Aalborg and perhaps an Aquavit to toast the adventure afterwards – a final circa 250nm in Sailonline’s classic Clipper 240.
NOTE: Starts and Finishes in tall ships racing are always offshore to avoid conflict with shipping and shipping lanes; online and real-life may not match exactly.
Race #1995
INFO by brainaid.de
Clipper 240 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: TSI - SUPBUD - SYC
Race starts: Jul 25th 16:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Chinook Salmon - Canada to Andreanovs


A year after spawning in the upper reaches of the rivers of British Columbia, Chinook Salmon develop the age-old urge, so familiar to SOLers, to go to sea, heading for different parts of the northern Pacific Ocean. This race catches up with a particular school with an instinctive memory for the Andreanov Islands far west on the Aleutian Islands chain, as they depart the Salian Sea between Vancouver Island and the San Juans. It’s 2200nm and we’re taking the 60ft Trimaran, in the hope we can keep up!
Race #2048
INFOby brainaid.de
60ft Trimaran PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: MIG - SYC
Race starts: Jul 21st 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Juventud TIMED Race 2026

Welcome to Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth), Cuba’s second largest island after mainland Cuba. Known as a haven for pirates, the island was the inspiration for novels “Treasure Island” and “Peter Pan”. The circa 120nm course runs clockwise around the island.
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 #2049
INFOby brainaid.de
The boat for this race is the sporty Mini 6.5p Foil PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ3 - TRCH - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
1 August at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Jul 19th 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Alaska to Easter Island 2026

Welcome to yet another all-new series. The initial leg of the RNW (Round the New World), Alaska to Easter Island, also part of our Ocean Championship. The first race of OCQ3 2026. This race will be sailed in our revised 'version 2' Imoca 60 Foil. Race #2042
INFO by brainaid.de
Imoca 60 Foil v2 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: OCQ3 - RNW - OCCH - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
August 1 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Jul 06th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member cdhinman
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Panpyc
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member ita10267
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member bonknhoot
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member ms0689
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rthinman

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

SYC members have the benefit of access to our mobile/lightweight web client!

The mobile client