Routing with restricted zones presents new challenges well known to offshore sailing racers, and in particular those who have raced the Fastnet.
In Virtual Regatta, as for sailing racing commities, several restriction zones are implemented:
- TSS: Traffic Separation Scheme
- BPZ: Biodiversity Protection Zone
- CPZ: Special Cetacean Protection Zone
- AEZ: Arctic / Antarctic Exclusion Zone
You might think that exclusion zones are simply islands. This is not quite the case, however, because unlike inland areas, the winds are not slowed by the restricted zones, and optimal routes often pass through them.
What's more, it's sometimes necessary to tack between these zones, and routing algorithms have a hard time finding optimal routes.
If there are many restricted zones on the direct route, professional routers recommend first to perform a routing without the restricted zone, to understand what the optimal route would be without it, and then activate the restricted zones to finalize the routing study. We often use pivot points or intermediate targets in the corners of these zones.
We have therefore added the “Avoid retricted zones” parameter to the routing settings so that you can apply this method. But be aware: it is imperative to avoid sending orders in Wind mode. Only Compass or, even better, Waypoint. Search for “order” or “mode” in this FAQ.
This setting is enabled by default, and can only be changed with the eSail4VR Premium subscription.
