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 » "newby" doing Newport Bermuda Race - Expedition & Wx advice

Posted by
mexicalibluestoo


Users avatar

Posts
2
Registered at
2020-06-13 16:51:34
2020-06-13 18:38:29 - "newby" doing Newport Bermuda Race - Expedition & Wx advice
Hi,
I'm planning on using Expedition Navigation Software to route/assist me in playing my first sailonline.org game and I watched one tutorial organized by the event and have a few questions.

1) will the gulf stream current be applied in the game - or only wind?
2) Am I correct in understanding the AWIPS NAM will be the weather model used by the game?
3) What GRID resolution will the game use?
4) When will the game "update" the weather model its using?
5) where is the best place to get the Grib of the model used by the the game?
6) If the NAM is being used - Any idea if either the hi res or conus models available in Expedition's NOAA download module are the "correct" model.
thank you
Posted by
ij


Users avatar

Posts
33
Registered at
2018-06-09 20:33:19
2020-06-13 22:59:38 - Re: "newby" doing Newport Bermuda Race - Expedition & Wx advice
1) SOL doesn't model any currents.
2, 3 & 4) The html5 client will show this info under misc tab (the update times are also available in the race listing on the homepage). When WX update times are from the 04:30, ... series, the wx source is GFS (in some races indirectly as high-res WRF WX may be in use but not relevant for this particular race). 02:45, ... series indicates NAM WX is used. From my experience, GFS WX datafile in SOL usually updates around xx:10-xx:25 (so slightly before the announced time) and is only rarely late.
5) Two places I know of. One is Java program known as AGL (Auto Grib Loaded, it's also known as "DC checker" which tends to be easier for finding it with web search). AGL will automatically download the gribs for you. In addition, AGL can plot the course considering all DCs you've set. The other way to get gribs is brainaid, you can find a link to that from the links section. Using "normal" NOAA gribs directly does not match to SOL WX for the first two weather data frames (around 1.5h differs per wx update period).

--
i.
Posted by
mexicalibluestoo


Users avatar

Posts
2
Registered at
2020-06-13 16:51:34
2020-06-17 20:06:16 - Re: "newby" doing Newport Bermuda Race - Expedition & Wx advice
Hi,
Thanks for your help. Unfortunately I'm not much code guy... just a sailor - so I'm going to try and play the game with sailor tools (Expedition Software) and no java script or other tools you online pros use that probably are a lot better for the application. A few follow up q's

1) what is the "html5 client" you refer to?
2) I saw a youtube presentation where an expert seemed to know that the NAMAWIPS model would be used for the game - but in your answer it looks like the game uses a bunch of different models and might mix them around - so you have to look at the "update time" and follow your hints about which model comes out at what time - to know what model to "play" with. Is tht correct? And then if I use the "normal" NOAA gribs - they won't be the same as the gribs the game uses for the first 1.5h or so after every model becomes available?)

Thanks, sorry to be such a newby.
Also a follow up - best source for polar files of the four boats in this Bermuda Race?
Posted by
Dingo


Users avatar

Posts
94
Registered at
2013-03-09 04:23:58
2020-06-18 09:16:24 - Re: "newby" doing Newport Bermuda Race - Expedition & Wx advice
Hi, I'll try to keep the answer simple so you can participate in the sailonline Bermuda simulation and route using Expedition. You can get your polar and the latest grib for the Sailonline Bermuda race from http://sol.brainaid.de/sailonline/toolbox

Here you will find the latest weather updates (they come at approximately 16:30, 22:30, 04:30 and 10:30 UTC, and are always available from Brainaids under the Weather tab.

You can also downlaod the Expediton polar for your chosen boat from the same site, using the Polar button. You can also get the waypoint co-ords from there, and also you can enter your steering commands there using the DC Editor button.

You don't have to make any changes to the grib you download from Brainaids - it's ready to use without scaling etc.

There are no currents in the simulator.

If you want extra, you can also look at http://solfans.org/wxinspector/ where, if you log on using your boatname and password, you will find under the Optimal Angles button, your max upwind and downwind vmg angles for the current wind, for those times when Expedition gives you dotted routing solutions (outside max vmg values).

Hope that helps and fair winds.
Posted by
Dingo


Users avatar

Posts
94
Registered at
2013-03-09 04:23:58
2020-06-18 09:23:55 - Re: "newby" doing Newport Bermuda Race - Expedition & Wx advice
Some further notes: we're using effectively NOAA .25 gfs not nam wips as the latter does not extend far enough east. However, my notes above referring you to Brainaids site is the best source for your grib updates to use in Expedition. These Brainaid gribs already contain the smoothing which is applied by the simulator so that there are not jumps between one grib update and the next.

Re the html5, the simulator used flash, and now we are developing an html5 version so that we are ready when flash is no longer supported. If you press the Go To Race button, you will get the old flash-based simulator, and if you press the html5 button you will get the newer version. They both are suitable for use and give the same results, performance, etc.
Posted by
ij


Users avatar

Posts
33
Registered at
2018-06-09 20:33:19
2020-06-18 11:11:08 - Re: "newby" doing Newport Bermuda Race - Expedition & Wx advice
Minor correction to what Dingo said. Current GFS grid can go down to 0.5x0.5, not below that despite NOAA providing also 0.25 GFS. This may change in the future though. In some races, the weather data size is reduced by using larger wx grid cells such as 1x1 or even beyond that in some long ocean races.

--
i.

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m

Current Races:

Africa by Sea - Abidjan to Swakopmund


Our exploration of Africa by Sea continues. Next, it’s off to Swakopmund, on the water’s edge of the Kalahari desert. It’s a wind-blasted coast, and a venue of choice for those seeking to set wind-powered sailing records. More likely than not, we’ll have to beat into it in our Steinlager II, to find some shelter behind the walls of Platz am Meer where there is a marina of sorts. Only 2200nm!
Race #1856
INFOby brainaid.de
Steinlager II PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - ABC
Race starts: May 14th 17:00 Registration will open soon
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Newport to Annapolis 2025


The Newport to Annapolis race, first held in 1947, is one of the most historic and well-known US East Coast blue water races. Linking two seaports dating from the US nation's birth, Annapolis and Newport, the race contrasts the country's largest estuary, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1969, the route has run from Annapolis through the Chesapeake Bay to Newport. The SOLers will sail 470nm in their Carkeek40s in the original direction from Newport to Annapolis, including the Chesapeake, which is such a daunting challenge that the 1997–98 Whitbread Round the World Race for the Volvo Trophy added it to the course, as did the Volvo Ocean Race in 2002 and 2006.
Race #1912
INFO from brainaid.de
Carkeek 40 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0245 / 0845 / 1445 / 2045
Ranking:
ARQ2 - ARCH - SUPSOL – SYC
Race starts: May 12th 17:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Channel Islands TIMED Chase 2025

Join us in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey for a race around the Channel Islands in the J-109, a recent addition to the Sailonline fleet. The course takes us around the islands of Alderney and Jersey finishing back in Saint Peter Port. This is a TIMED race, so you may RE-REGISTER HERE to try again, after finishing a run. You will have 13 days and 11 hours to test your skill and decision making after the race opens.
Race #1915
INFO by brainaid.de
J-109 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ2 - TRCH - SUPSOL - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
24 May at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: May 11th 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Elephant Island to Marquesas 2025

Prepare to test your limits as we launch into the third leg of the RWW Series and the fifth leg of the 2025 Ocean Championship Series—an epic voyage from Elephant Island to the Marquesas in the heart of French Polynesia. This 4,700-nautical-mile challenge is a true test of endurance, strategy, and raw sailing adrenaline. Aboard the high-performance Volvo 70v4, competitors will face fierce headwinds as they round the legendary Cape Horn and make the thrilling transition from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Do you have what it takes to conquer the Pacific? Join us, and put your skills to the ultimate test.
PRIZE: SMPF
Race #1909
INFO by brainaid.de
VO70_v4 PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: OCQ2 - RWW - OCCH - SUPSOL - SYC
Race starts: May 05th 11:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Transat à Deux 2025

Above you see a single-handed sailor semi-foiling his Beneteau Figaro III to the horizon. It is in fact Ireland’s Sailor of the Year and the overall winner of last year’s Solitaire du Figaro, Tom Dolan. Somehow, we got our hands on a polar for the Class, and rather than trying to surreptitiously track Tom and his mates in the 2025 edition of the Solitaire, sailing rather-short, single-handed legs across the Celtic Sea and Biscay, we thought we’d see how our virtual craft would fare on the Class’s double-handed 3900nm Trans-Atlantic, from somewhere in Brittanny to somewhere in the Caribbean via somewhere in the Canaries. Allez, mes braves!
Race #1901
INFOby brainaid.de
Figaro III foil PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC
RACE CLOSE: Thursday,
May 15 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Apr 20th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Sinbad by Balloon 2025 - Toamasina to Baia de l'Oiseau


You may recall that when last we visited Madagascar in the company of Sinbad, the Sultan commanded our intrepid inspirator to seek out fabled islands where in Summer the sun barely set. We did and we returned but the Sultan wasn’t happy with Sinbad’s report, so here we go again, now by SOL Balloon instead of sailing vessel. Expect to be in the air for at least 2100nm and depending on how the wind brings us, anything between two weeks and two months before we shall descend at the Sultan’s given coordinates!
Race #1884
INFOby brainaid.de
SOL Balloon PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: SYC - SBB
RACE CLOSE: Sunday,
May 18 at 2300 UTC.
Race starts: Apr 09th 11:00 Registration Closed
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Patrick70119
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member FreyjaUSA
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Kipper1258
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member vida
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member bonknhoot
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rumskib

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

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

The mobile client