Virtual Regatta records: when to start?

The expected duration of the record by start time, weather run after weather run.

On a record, you choose the start time, and a few hours can be worth a day at the finish. eSail4VR routes the record for a start every two hours over the next four days.

The computation runs again once a day, on the 00 UTC GFS run, once the run is published up to 16 days. The results are computed in advance: the page shows them at once.

How to read the table

  • All options or no options: each start is routed twice. The switch above the table goes from one to the other. The best window is not always the same: the foils, for one, only pay off in some winds.
  • One row per start time, one column per GFS run, the latest on the left.
  • From green to red: from the shortest duration to the longest.
  • Down a column, the latest run: the best window today.
  • Across a row, the stability: a start that stays green run after run is a reliable window; a start that changes color at each run depends on a weather system still poorly forecast.

A “?” flags a routing that did not finish, or one too far off its neighbours to be credible.

The limits

The routings use the boat shown above the table, with full energy at the start. Beyond five to seven days the GFS forecast becomes uncertain: on a long record, the end of the course matters less in the choice than the first days.

To route your own start, download the eSail4VR app.