Glossary · Sailing & navigation
Weather routing
Also called: Routage, routage météo, routing, router
Working out the fastest route from weather forecasts and the boat's performance.
Routing software combines forecast files (wind, waves, currents) with the boat's polars and proposes the fastest track. The shortest path is rarely the fastest: boats go around a high or chase a front.
In crewed racing or for records, a shore-based router may advise the boat. Single-handed, many races, such as the Vendée Globe, forbid outside routing: the sailor is their own router.