Category : Meteorology

Weather4D still makes greater finesse

Posted on2 comments

With the basic 1.3.3 and PRO versions 1.3.9 delivered last November, Weather4D had replaced the GRIB files fine grid from Great Circle by its own files based on the U.S. model WRF (¹), computed under his own steam. These files cover Europe, Greece, Canaria, Azores, Greater and Lesser Antilles, offer a resolution of 0.1° (6 NM) up to 96 hours by 1 hour steps. The data provided is the same as the GFS model (¹). At the same time, The annual subscription price has been reduced by 60 down to 30 €.

Thanks to the implementation of new means, the next updates that have just been submitted to Apple Store will provide even more details. Olivier Bouyssou explains :

« FYI, App4Nav uses 6 different servers, 2 for the calculation of WRF model and 4 for distributing GRIBs : 2 for the US+Asia region and 2 for Europe. At this time 8000 GRIBs are distributed per day and triple during the season… ”

This now enables to provide, for the French coasts, including Corsica, ultra-fine grid to 0.04 °, that to say 2,4 NM. It also adds to the GFS and WRF files new data evaluating wind gusts. Read more …

Weather4D PRO 1.3.2 adds the currents in the routing

Posted on4 comments

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 …

iNavX 3.6.1 with high-resolution GRIB files

Posted on3 comments

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 …

Ocean Atlas, the Pilot Charts revisited

Posted onOne comment

Atlas des OcéansThe Atlas of Oceans by Jimmy and Ivan Cornell is a gold mine in color A3 size of over one kilogram. This one won't fit in an iPad !

60 Pilot Charts Updates to the latest data, 69 transoceanic route charts, Tactical remarks and suggestions for the choice of the best crossing times provided by routers and meteorologists specializing in each area.

It had the passion and experience of the author of famous " World Cruising Routes ” (*) and those of his son to carry out such a work. Read more …

Navigation with iPad trainings : a complete solution

Posted on8 comments

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 …

Weather4D PRO 1.0 integrates routes from iNavX

Posted on7 comments

Weather4D ProThe new app Weather4D PRO for iOS (iPhone / iPad), developed by Olivier Bouyssou, was submited yesterday to Apple. It provides advanced functions associated with GRIB files for demanding users. It comes in addition to Weather4D app which was promoted as one of the best apps in Apple AppStore for few weeks.

This Pro version, quickly available, will provide following features :

GRIB files management :

  • Importation, sharing (export ), copy-paste, folders filing, history, request from SailDocs by email

Routes management :

  • Route import in KML format from iNavX or other apps, overlay route display with forecasts, boat progress with forecasts scrolling, route settings (heading, speed, date, etc…).

Iridium satellites tracking :

  • Prediction of transition from Iridium satellites to optimize the connections to run queries GRIB files. Automatic updating of ephemeris and parameter setting coverage (rising, timing). Read more …

When Katia meets La Louise

Posted on

Thierry Dubois and his teammates, dont Jacques Vermeulen experimenting its Iridium connection with its new MacBook Air, must not be laughing at the time I post this short post.

La Louise, conveying from Newfoundland to La Trinité, is being caught up in Hurricane Katia, ex-tropical cyclone, which is due to reach the coast of the British Isles next night. Based on last position and estimated speed, La Louise should be in the west of the weather area "Romeo", either in the southeast of the center of the Low, its intended position on the Navimail map below the location of the red boat at 18h UTC : Read more …

XyGrib for Mac now truly “Apple like”

Posted onOne comment

XyGribXyGrib, the GRIB weather file viewer developed under Linux and well known in the PC world, is the subject of a port on Mac which, since version 5.0, is real progress compared to the first versions. Since the beginning 2011 it is distributed as an executable version for Mac (Intel) Ready to use, as a package in a disk image (.DMG).

We must welcome the community of this development that makes a great work for the greater benefit of boaters. Open source software opensource, zyGrib is distributed under the GNU GPL v3. zyGrib allows the display of a large number of GRIB files, from many weather Forecasting Models weather. It also allows automated requests generated by the application. Read more …

Météo Consult is available on iPhone and iPad

Posted on

Created in 1988, company Weather Consult was the first private weather company in France. She mainly developed paid forecasting services for professionals, leaving the public service Météo France to take care of the free forecasts for the general public. Meteo Consult is best known in the field of ocean racing, where it gained an almost exclusive dominance.

Become a subsidiary of Prosodie in 2000, it buys La Chaine Météo in 2006, then it was itself bought by the Le Figaro group at the end of 2008 (¹).

La Chaine MétéoThe "La Chaine Météo" application for iPhone appears as soon as 2009 (²). Of impeccable quality and ergonomics, This free app brings forecasts to 10 days, covers towns and beaches, provides video forecasts technical, regional and alerts. Despite its orientation towards the general public, it has been very useful information for coastal boaters.

This year, we are witnessing a complete change of strategy for Météo Consult.

Read more …