Introducing the "Archived GRIB Routing"

The idea here is like replacing the pilot charts with some GRIBs stored in some composites you have already archived, to plan a trip for example.
At sea, the GRIBs you will download will provide a reliable forecast for about 3 days. After that, it's more like science fiction...
By looking into your archived composites, you can have a look at the weather that actually happened.
This brings us back to the importance of naming conventions, mentioned in the User's Manual.

Here is a quick step-by-step introduction to the feature.

Click on the images to see them in full size, easier to read.

Open the Weather Wizard as usual, without loading any data.

Re-locate the chart to the desired area, if needed.

Next, plot the start and arrival points. Let's try here to go from the SF Bay Area to the Christmas Island, in the Kiribati Republic.

Next, go to the menu Tools > Routing > Routing from Archived GRIBs

You will be prompted to choose the directory containing the composites containing the GRIBs you are interested in, and the Regular Expression filtering them. Just in case you forgot, ".*" will select everything (no filter).

The application will tell you how many composites your selection will return, they will be used to build one single BIG GRIB document that will be used to compute the routing.

One important thing to be careful with: By default, the application suggests you to start the routing at the current time and date. As you can see on the dialog, the GRIB start and end dates do not contain the current date. You need to change the date you want to start the routing from, so it is within the GRIB date range.

Now, the routing start date is within the GRIB's range.

From now on, the process is the usual routing one. Except that the GRIB will probably not expire.

You can tell by the color of the isochrones that the GRIB did indeed not expire.

Note: Once the big GRIB has been generated, it is loaded in the application, just like if it had been downloaded from the net, or read from the disc. You can re-launch a routing computation without having to re-generate it, until you close the tab it lives in.

This feature is still in development, it will be available very soon.
Hope you will lilke it!

Routing now avoiding land

Sounds obvious, I know, but the routing is now - on request - able to avoid land.

The feature is being developed - ie it works on my machine - and will be available in beta soon (in 3.0.0.5).
There will be some limitations for the inland seas, like Caspian, Aral, Black Sea, Great Lakes... But that should beOK for the rest of us.
As always, the code will be available on Google Code.

Routing Slicing

Just like we had a GRIB Slicing feature, you can now visualize the conditions at the routing level.

Drag the mouse on the top pane, and that tells you where you are on the chart, with a big red dot.

Beside that, it was so windy today in Oyster Point that the wind blew my glasses off my nose... I just could see them sinking 30 feet away from the dock. Rats!

Externalizing the Look and Feel option

The possibility to apply a Swing Look and Feel on the UI has been externalized. You can apply any Look and Feel you want, its name will be mentioned in the command-line, or in the shortcut properties. That brings more flexibility to the user, and cuts the dependencies with the providers.
On the right is an example of what's possible, using the "Napkin" Look and Feel.
The default look and feel is the System one, not the Metal one (Java default).
Those who have already installed the program should re-install it, as some modifications in the launching script were made.

Routing Computation Improvement

Found - and fixed - an important performance bug in the routing computation.
That one appeared when a restriction like "Avoid TWS above XX" or "Avoid TWA below YY" was set.
It now behaves like the computation that has no restriction, which is good!
Update is available at its usual place, or through the automatic update mechanism.
Enjoy!

"What if" routing

Mostly dedicated to cruisers - not good for racing - here is a new feature.Think it like "What if I keep sailing at 50 degrees of the true wind, starboard tack, for 3 days?". Or "What if I keep heading 230 true for 5 days?".
This shows you where you would be! There are some limitations of course, like when you keep sailing head to wind, you wacky weirdo.

Routing, Racing, Cruising

I've never seen it anywhere else, so I wrote it.
It's about raising the bar a bit higher, in term of cruising. Everyone - racers and cruisers - have the same goal: get the best conditions.

The only difference is what "best" means (remember, when cruising, you have to keep the crew happy). 

There is now in the software a feature being tested as I write, to limit the True Wind Speed, and the True Wind Angle.

When starting a routing calculation, you can say "Avoid TWS above XXX", or "Avoid TWA below YYY". 

That would for sure make your trip smoother.

It might lead to unresolvable routing, but there is a warning... Ye be warned!

Software available from the regular location.

Enjoy!