Electronic navigation is gradually changing the way the yacht navigator tackles the problems of locating and plotting the yacht’s progress, whether in the leisurely cruising environment or on the more hectic racecourse.
Home Page
Speed of acquisition, coupled with a more accurate and comprehensive collection of factual navigation data, are the main plus points, and as computer equipment prices continue to fall, the systems become more easily affordable by the smaller yacht owner.
Add to this the undoubted advantages of the digital chart when night sailing, or in bad visibility, and there emerges a convincing argument for installing such a system as an additional tool to take the strain when more traditional navigation technology becomes too time-consuming or weather conditions too demanding.
Whether the dedicated chart plotter, with it’s own built-in GPS, is chosen, or, as is more frequently the case these days, the more versatile laptop is favoured, an abundance of software and hardware is available, and the choice of system is as wide and varied as with more conventional products in the electronics field.
Cost factors are becoming less and less a consideration, as shareware and software become available for downloading from the Web, and prices for new and second-hand hardware continue to fall, and the ever-reducing physical size of equipment makes even the space argument no longer valid.
This site is dedicated to the furtherance of the technology and the expansion of interest in electronic navigation as an essential tool in the navigator’s armoury.
