Weather4D PRO 1.3.3 further improves routing

weather4d proImprovements…

No respite for this application : two and a half months after integrating the currents into the routing calculation, this latest version provides significant advances on this function. The improvements bring greater precision to the calculation of the optimized route and new parameters allow for fine-tuning.

… and two pieces of good news :

They concern currents, follow the leader… Read more …

Weather4D PRO 1.3.2 adds the currents in the routing

weather4d proWith the version 1.3.2, Weather4D PRO allows to get and display currents as GRIB data. To begin with, currents available are provided with subscription by Tidetech, I mentioned there in the past (¹). Once entered in Weather4D PRO settings a username and password, provided at the time of subscription, you can access Tidetech global catalog.

Only one PRO subscription to Tidetech allows you to obtain files in GRIB format. The company is considering a specific offer for applications on iPad / iPhone. Read more …

iPolar generates speed polars for Weather4D PRO

iPolarYou dreamed of it since Weather4D Pro has featured its powerful routing module. He did it !

Our Toulousian crazy developer, Olivier Bouyssou, just sent Apple a new app : iPolar.

Developed in collaboration with — and on behalf of — KND SailingPerformance, iPolar calculates the performance polars of a sailboat based on specific parameters, Easy to identify : Read more …

iNavX 3.6.1 with high-resolution GRIB files

Since version 3.6.1 iNavX provides overlay of GRIB weather files in high resolution from theyr.com. This English website owned by Kona Ltd company is the developer of the application GribView which I talked about in a previous post (¹). An active account on x-traverse.com must be open, and done subscription to one of the Theyr subscriptions.

Actually x-traverse.com website allows two subscriptions :

  • Theyr Standard – Mobile at the annual price of $9,99 (environ 7,85 €) or monthly of $3,99 (environ 3,10 €)
  • Theyr Premium – Mobile at the annual price of $19,99 (environ 15,70 €) or monthly of $6,99 (environ 5,40 €)

Read more …

Routing comes up in Weather4D PRO 1.3

Weather4D PROAfter several months of intensive development and testing, under the conditions mentioned in a previous post, Olivier Bouyssou will offer his latest version of Weather4D PRO 1.3.0. At no additional cost, the routing module will simply be added with the update !

A career as a computer developer in the service of technical engineering combined with a solid mathematical background (¹) has enabled it to develop routing algorithms that have nothing to envy to the market leaders (²). Added to an interface that everyone agrees with, this new advanced feature that will appeal to both racers and cruisers, want to optimize their trips in the best conditions of safety and comfort. The new features will :

Routing :

  • Routing isochronous mixed (Sail and engine).
  • Polar efficiency adjustment in percentage.
  • Management of polar combined with multiple sails sets.
  • Refreshment of a route from actual location.
  • Importing Fleeces (CSV files) by the "Open in… ”.
  • Export route calculated by mail and "Open in… ”.
  • Conversion of the calculated route to a "normal" route (export to iNavX).

GRIB Files :

  • Request for fine grids files WRF by email (email, XGate, Iridium Mail) as for the GFS.

Read more …

Apps de navigation : what's new for the start of the school year

While I spent my summer diligently testing hardware and software in extremely arduous conditions, hard-working developers tirelessly aligned miles of lines of code to improve our navigation applications. What dedication, what self-sacrifice !

développeurs en action

Challenging working conditions…

Regarding navigation applications, the new features mainly come from Navionics Marine and iSailor Sex. To all lord all honor, let's start with the undisputed leader of our smartphones and tablets, Navionics charts… Read more …

Search for charts information data with iNavX

leisureNavionics vector charts contain a number of detailed information for each marina, and sometimes certain anchorages. These places are marked on charts by the symbol shown against.

This data is called "Navaids" when the information relates to navigation, and "POIs" when dealing with practical and interesting information (Point Of Interest, The "s" is the plural). Read more …

iOS 5 can erase your Navionics charts without warning

Good surprise during the ARC transatlantic 2011.

After transferring photos from my device to my iPad, for an unknown reason the storage memory was full. I had 9GB free and I only transferred the contents of a 2GB SD-Card. Mystery !

Anyway, after two or three system messages warning me of the upcoming saturation, iOS 5 has simply deleted all my Navionics map used by iNavX !

When asked by e-mail, Rich Ray confirmed the fact possible :

"This is an unfortunate change in iOS5, the iOS will and can clear any apps downloaded data without notice if another app needs more space.. iOS doesn't give any notification to the app if this happens".

Olivier Bouyssou told me it was possible for developers to store application data in a folder reserved unerasable, but that this was rarely allowed by Apple. This was a big problem because no one knew how iOS selected which apps it cleared from.

Yachtmen my friends, be prudent : if you do not want to lose your charting during the cruise, away from any network allowing you to download them again, monitor the available space of your iPad and iPhone.

Navigation with iPad trainings : a complete solution

With Weather4D PRO and Iridium Mail, associated with a satellite phone Iridium, we now have a complete solution, reliable and low cost to receive, display and manage GRIB files in open seas with iPad.
iNavX and Navionics cartography also provide a complete navigation solution, supporting files transfers with Weather4D PRO : GRIB, routes, tracks, that allows simultaneous display in both applications.

These solutions, perfectly complementary and consistent with each other, have been tested on more than 2800 NM in the automn during a crossing from Canaria to the Caribbean, on board Catana 47 "Burst", token place in ARC rally 2011. In addition, Olivier Bouyssou was able to improve his Weather4D Pro application "over time", correcting, adding and optimizing daily development onboard. Read more …