Expedition Navigation software has gained wide acceptance in recent years as being the best navigation and routing software available. Certainly in California the majority of the boats doing any offshore racing use it. However I find that many of them use it for little more than charting a course and downloading weather to run course optimizations. While this a major part of the program there are lots of other performance enhancing features than can be readily accessed and easily used. And the top boats are using these even in short course and buoy racing to up their finish positions.
Expedition has the power to provide all the performance and tactical data you want. Couple that with the Ventus Navigator App and you have the data you want to see wherever you are on the boat. Start out with the basic must have data for sailing the boat efficiently upwind and down; target boat speed and target wind angles. Use polar boat speed for trimming on reaching legs, and have a page set up with your opposite track information along with bearing to the mark, and how much time there is to the layline so you can pick your gybe and tack points with accuracy. Have another page set up with all your next leg information, range and bearing to the next mark, apparent wind angle, and wind speed for the leg, so you know exactly what sail combination you will want to use. The possibilities are endless, Expedition has almost 200 channels of data and the Ventus Navigator can display any you choose to see on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, right to the individual crewman that needs that information.
To quote Simon Fisher of Diverse Yachts “I am a big fan of putting good navigation info into a package that is smaller than a tablet – not only is it easier for the navigator to carry around but also makes specific data accessible to other members of the crew without having to rely on additional deck screens and fixed displays.” Read on.
