Zezo forum:

Post by zezo | 2020-04-16 | 11:34:40

Depending on the forecast, the route to La Palma may or may not pass NW of the island.

This may or may not work well with the buoy logic, so you may want to check "Go to La Palma" and "Ignore gates" initially ;-)

9 Comments

Post by LinusVanpelt | 2020-04-16 | 15:38:36

HI
Just at this time, there a "way point" NW of the the island on the VR map.

Post by sauvageon | 2020-04-18 | 08:04:13

Hello,

First post. Thanks a lot ctvan and all the contributors.

It looks like that the best route may go further than 23�W before the first buoy.

But there is a limitation in the set up and any zezo routes can't go 23W+.

Do you see my point ? Can i modify some set up myself ?

Thanks in advance for your answers.

Post by zezo | 2020-04-18 | 08:37:14

There is no limitation at 23W. The helper gate is at 20W. The end of the isochrones at 23 30 is just visual - you'll see the rest if you zoom out a bit.

Clicking the "Ignore gates" checkbox in the right mouse menu ignores all defined gates. But then the boat will go straight for the finish unless you change your destination point.

Clicking "Go to La Palma" may not be exactly what you want because the track will approach from the wrong side of the buoy. So you better right-click slightly E of the island and select "Set as destination".

Post by sauvageon | 2020-04-18 | 08:58:39

Your are simply the best! Many thanks. #staysafe

Post by LinusVanpelt | 2020-04-18 | 20:53:14

I'm preparing the transat AG2R with a new tool for me
In the middle of the week, zezo gives us an option West for the beginning at 2 days this evening (same route for every days from 1 to 16).

This evening, the view at short term, 1,2 days are the same but now the view at 8 days gives a route South !!!(more South than the view upside)

Is it because :
1 the is an evolution in meteo condition wich is at this day on North Spain but not on Brittany coast
2 there is a difference is the working of the data files
3 "Something else"?

Zezo is a wonderful tool
Thanks

Post by zezo | 2020-04-18 | 21:43:36

1) Don't use an interval that does not allow you to reach your destination, if at all possible. It does not make sense 90% of the time.

It's bad idea to follow every whim of the router so if there are two about equal but distinct routes you better commit to one of them and stick with it.

The way to persuade the router is to move the destination point around a bit.

The most important tool is not the track. It's the isochones. You learn to read them much like the elevation lines on a topo map. There are ridges and valleys and you don't want to get in the valleys.

In the screenshot above there are three distinct propagation fronts. The one with the track meets another one one degree East. There is third 4 degrees further East, but I would not count on that one.

I've been following the forecast for few days, and the far West route comes up about half of the time, the other option is the straight line.

Common sailing wisdom says you should stick close to the straight line if there is a choice and everything else is the same.

But then sometimes a far-off route wins, like the visit to Newfoundland in the recent Great Escape races. It was not exactly impossible, but relatively few players committed to it and in the end some players got Top 100 ranking without full options.

2) It's the evolution of the forecast. The trade winds move E-W depending on passing systems.

I may have some more comments, but It's Easter around here, I've been baking the panettone today and it's getting late, so let's see what tomorrow brings.

Post by zezo | 2020-04-18 | 21:46:01

P.S. The latest possible forecast is usually the best. Unless it's the odd one - like one week with strong preference for one option and then right before the start another variant comes up. I'd stick with the one-week prediction in that case.

Post by LinusVanpelt | 2020-04-18 | 22:42:29

Thanks
I have a lot to learn, I joined the classroom only 4 weeks ago.

In the week, all the files were consistent with a West start.
I was surprise this evening to see a new option for mid term, 8 days, with another option to short term 1 or 2 days, and at the same moment in the evening, so my question.

I wish good Easter, safe, and good surprises for tomorrow.

Post by zezo | 2020-04-19 | 09:39:09

It all comes with time and experience. Some of us have been doing this VR stuff fore more than 10 years now, but there have been race winners without any real world sailing experience and only few months on VR too.

Giving general advice is not possible.

It all depends on where and when your boat is. There are weather patterns like the trade winds and depressions in the North and esp. South oceans (Roaring Forties), the Doldrums in which common wisdom and historical data plays more role than the router.
A route between Europe and Cape town goes close to Brazil, even down to Rio sometimes. How much down depends on the state of St. Helena high

The accuracy of the weather forecast also depends on the physical location. It's best in the North Atlantic where there are more ships and weather stations, worse in other places.

It also depends on the type of the boat. Is it fast enough to chase weather systems. Router works best with fast boats. With Magellan you better rely more on pilot charts and maybe some strategical possibilities.