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 » General Discussion » Weather Cast

I was wondering how the weather is implemented? In the other VOR game, the use time points from specific grib reports.

When is the weather updated in this game, it seems to flow much more naturally without the abrupt changes?

Thanks,

Tom
Correct. We basically use the same source but our smooth interpolation in both space and time is groovy, isn´t it :-) Also note that we shuffle the boats around more often than VOR too ;-)
...one of the guys behind the game...
In OSTAR RACE they go two nights that one does not update the weather. I think fundamental that this type of problems must not exist and his solution has to be priority to support the fair play and equity in the competition.
Regards: Sotil
But the weather IS updated, four times per day actually.
...one of the guys behind the game...
Sorry Jakob, but there was no update @ 23:45~24:00 June 2/3 nor @ 06:00 June 3. There was an update at apx 09:00 June 3.

Also, this happened a few days ago when the 23:45 ~ 24:00 update was missed.

I for one would prefer that if an update is missed there should be no update till the next scheduled update. Throwing surprise updates in the middle of the night at us folks on the other side of the globe could cause us much distress.
At least this time it caused me (at least) no loss in the Ostar, but did screw up my course in practice in the VOR. At least it was just practice. I would be a bit pissed if it were to happen after this Sat. ;-)
I support captjack1942 suggestion that, when a weather update is missed, the next update should occur according to the normal schedule.

On working days, I usually plan my course for the next 12 hours based on the 6:00 UCT update just before going to work. I am usually unable to look at the weather update of 11:50 UCT and just hope for stable weather. But unscheduled updates are difficult to handle.
Good point, we will have this in mind. No promises though.
...one of the guys behind the game...
However IRL some forcasts look and sound exactly the same and so no real change is apparent for your particular spot on the ocean.

Against this, sometimes additional forecasts are issued with fast developing situations and the normal 6 hours between forcasts is not adequate nor appropriate.

Rumour has it that some ocean sailors miss forecasts because they are asleep, busy on deck, or have lost power or reception is bad or impossible.

Forrest Gump (movie) said "Shit Happens"

Jakob; Don't panic or worry, IMHO.

Did not Marie Antoinette say to the French peasants "Let them eat cake".
In this case, "Take a concrete pill"
(harden up!)
If it breaks, it's not strong enough!
Well Paul, IRL if I can see the sky, I have a real good idea what the weather is going to be. Seascat and gribs have not been around very long...just a few years.
That said, this is not real life. It is a game. It is a game payed by people all over a world divided into 24 time zones. I think that in order to be fair to all these folks around the globe, we should stick to a schedule, even if it means sometimes having a drastic transition for an hour or so from a couple of missed updates.

In every instance of a make up or delayed weather update that I can recall, the make up has occurred mid-morning (or at least midday) in Europe. 09:00 UTC is 11:00 AM in Stockholm, and 9:00 PM in New Zealand, but is the middle of the night in the Americas (2:00 AM PDT in California).

Either stick to a regular schedule or throw in some random updates, say at 2:00 AM in Stockholm or Auckland just to keep it fair.

;-)
CaptJack: This is why SOL is such a wonderful game as the experience of using forecasts, gibb files and sail planners is a great learning opportunity. (I'm still to get into the gibb files and downloads. Have been learning Sail Planner though)

Yes it is hard getting up in the middle of the night to start a race or navigate around the green stuff!

In the OSTAR I was 27 hours late starting, but pleased to go from #621 to #333.

So I suppose I'm just against "pandering" if things are not going one's way.

The one thing that is certain is that the weather will be "CHANGEABLE".

Personally I dislike the computer precision of steering a course to two decimals of precision. IRL the nearest 5 degrees are the only marks on my compass! Even then the best would be steering to within 2 to 2.5 degrees. Autopilots can be set to 1 degree increments so I would suggest steering should only be set in whole degrees.

Wind? nearest 5 degrees at the best! Showing one decimal precision for wind is OK in a wind tunnel but IRL, the wind is never constant.

My 2 cents worth today.
If it breaks, it's not strong enough!

Please login to post a reply.

Races

Next Race: 00d 00h 00m


Current Races:

New Ice Age 2026 - Scott Base to Neumayer Station


To complete our DN circumnavigation of Antarctica and our 4-race ice-boat marathon series, we continue clockwise, now departing from Scott Base back to Neumayer Station. It’s about 3500nm back as well, which, as said if there’s wind at all, should, well-wrapped in your DN-cockpits, not take you much more than five days. And remember: charts down here are unreliable – what is land and what is ice?!
Race #1971
INFOby brainaid.de
DN PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: NIA - SYC
Race starts: Aug 27th 07:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Cross the Convergence 2026 - Tenerife to Fernando de Noronha


The sixth race of our series of ocean voyages across the World’s convergence zones takes us back up the Atlantic to Tenerife, from whence we will depart on a classic transatlantic passage to Brazil’s Fernando de Noronha. It’s 2150nm as the albatross flies, but you will undoubtedly have to take some and sometimes sudden detours to get your Volvo 70v4 through the doldrums stretching across your path from the Amazon to the Niger.
Race #1986
INFOby brainaid.de
Volvo 70v4PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking: CCZ - SYC
Race starts: Aug 23rd 18:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Palk Bay TIMED Race 2026

This month’s TIMED race takes us to the shallow waters of Palk Bay located between India and Sri Lanka. Sail the impressive MC 38 around a roughly 140 nm course through two narrow channels before returning to the start/finish line in Jaffna.
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 #2054
INFOby brainaid.de
PARTICULARS
WX Updates:
0430 / 1030 / 1630 / 2230
Ranking:
TRQ3 - TRCH - SYC
RACE CLOSE: Saturday,
29 August at 23:00 UTC
Race starts: Aug 16th 12:00 Registration Open!
▶ Flash
GO TO RACE

Go to race archive

SYC Ranking

  1. Sailonline Yacht Club Member KaSToR
  2. Sailonline Yacht Club Member CriticalHippo
  3. Sailonline Yacht Club Member WRmirekd
  4. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rafa
  5. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Panpyc
  6. Sailonline Yacht Club Member cdhinman
  7. Sailonline Yacht Club Member rthinman
  8. Sailonline Yacht Club Member ms0689
  9. Sailonline Yacht Club Member BRENTGRAY
  10. Sailonline Yacht Club Member Sax747

View full list

Series

Mobile Client

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

The mobile client