• Known Bugs
• Login and Passwords
• Quickguide: Editing
• Quickguide: Rollcall Data Entry
• Quickguide: Setup a New Race
• View or Enter Position Data

• GRIB
• Weather Charts
• Polars
• Routing
• PCR
• Performance Correction
• Estimating TTG and ETA
• Changing the Default Race

• About Cirrugator

Do not use apostrophe (') or ampersand (&) in any name fields (conflicts with database and/or HTML)

To avoid inadvertent data modifications remain as guest user whenever possible! Guest can do all data analysis and views without restriction. Most data entry, modifications, and even deletions can be done with the crew account. Owner account is needed only for deletions of the race structure!

Navigating entry fields on a rocking boat is often easier by keyboard than by mouse:

• The tabulator key cycles through all fields
• In drop-down boxes: Hitting a single key, like 'c', in slow succesion cycles through all entries with 'c' as first letter
• In drop-down boxes: Hitting two or more keys, like 'c' 'i' 'r', in fast succesion will jump to the first word beginning with 'cir'
• For info on how to best enter lat/lon values click the 'Explanation of Data Fields' link at the top of the respective pages
• Pressing key F11 changes the browser into full-screen mode (and back when pressed again)

• Click on QuickEntry
• You must be logged in as either crew or owner; crew preferred (see Login and Passwords)
• Option Race: Default Race is preset. Change if not ok
• Option Date & Time: Preset is 'today' with rollcall time of default race. Edit if not ok
• Click 'Submit Options'
• Enter lat and lon for all boats (where available, leave fields empty otherwise). Use tabulator key to step through all fields. Modify Date & Time, and Sailing Status if different from preset
• Click 'Save Data'
• For more explanations click the 'Guidance and Explanation of Data Fields' link at the top of the page

• You must be logged in as either crew or owner
• Click on Races. Fill out all fields and save. For more guidance click on the 'Explain Data Fields' link at the top of the page
• Click on Divisions. Select the race, you have just created, provide a Division Name and Start Time for the division, and save. Repeat for all divisions of the race. For more guidance click on the 'Explain Data Fields' link at the top of the page
• Are all boats and skipper/owner defined, which run in this race? If not you must first enter all boats. Skipper/Owner is optional, but recommended
• Click on People. Enter and save all people not yet listed irrespective of whether they are skipper or owner (or both). For more guidance click on the 'Explain Data Fields' link at the top of the page
• Click on Boats. Enter and save all boats not yet listed. Pay attention to compare boat type and length - the same boat name is used for different boats! For more guidance click on the 'Explain Data Fields' link at the top of the page
• Click on Passages. Select race/divison and boat from the drop-down box (make sure to pick the correct boat - there are duplicate names!). Enter the boat PCR as provided by the race organizers (see note on PCR). Select the skipper (not the owner) from the drop-down box. For more guidance click on the 'Explain Data Fields' link at the top of the page
• The race is set up. You can now enter positions using either the method Entry of Position Data or the method Quickguide: Rollcall Data Entry

The Positions page is typically used when you want to review or correct individual values. If you have a lot of data to enter, like from a rollcall, you can do it here, but the preferred way is described elsewhere, see Quickguide: Rollcall Data Entry.

Keep in mind that positions are only shown for selected passeges! Click Select to modify selection.

• Click on Positions
• To add or change data you must be logged in as either crew or owner; crew preferred (see Login and Passwords)
• For a new entry provide all the required data and save.
• To edit an existing record scroll down to the record and click the 'Edit' button. Click 'Save' when done, or 'Cancel' to exit. Clicking a different button while in Edit mode has the same effect as Cancel; the edited record will NOT be saved!
• For more explanations click the 'Guidance and Explanation of Data Fields' link at the top of the page

You must first Get a GRIB file and then Upload it.

To obtain a GRIB file by e-mail, send request to:"query@saildocs.com",
with body text as either of the following, differing by grid resolution in lat / lon. Except after 'send' you MUST NOT have spaces in the line. Use preferred resolution of 1x1 deg if radio transmission capacity permits (Examples valid for Pacific Cup situation):

• grid 1 x 1 deg (e-mail size ~22k):
  send grib:18N,43N,160W,115W|1,1|00,24,48,72,96,120,144,168,192,216,240|WIND
• grid 1 x 2 deg (e-mail size ~13k):
  send grib:18N,43N,160W,115W|1,2|00,24,48,72,96,120,144,168,192,216,240|WIND
• grid 2 x 1 deg -- not recommended for use in cirrugator
  
• grid 2 x 2 deg (e-mail size ~8k) :
  send grib:18N,43N,160W,115W|2,2|00,24,48,72,96,120,144,168,192,216,240|WIND

The file must reside as a regular file somewhere on your computer; if it is still embedded in an email, first extract and save it.

Click on GRIB. You must be logged-in to continue! In the 'Uploading GRIBs' field enter name (with path) of the GRIB file to upload, or browse for it. Click the 'Upload' button.
Note: if you are working from a web server on a local computer, you may also directly copy the GRIB file into the folder 'uploads' under folder 'cirrugator'.

Click on Polars. The default option settings should satisfy typical needs; click the 'Go' button to present the polars.

• no data yet!!!!!!!
• Graph XYZ!!!!!!!!: and again no data here!!!!!!!

Click on Router. The default option settings should satisfy typical needs; click the 'Go' button to start routing.

• GRIB file: Select the GRIB file to be used for routing (new GRIB files are saved via the GRIB tab). GRIB files are listed as the most recent one first.
  
  GRIB files, when requested as described above, consist of multiple subsets containing the wind forecasts for multiple timepoints. You can either choose the first subset only and calculate the whole route with it, although the GRIB forecast is valid only at the time of starting, or you can choose the 'Moving GRIB' calculation, which determines the wind on each point of the isochrones by linear interpolation of both location and time. If the time point requested is beyond the valid time of the latest GRIB subset, then this lastest subset will be used for the remainder of the route.
  
  When 'first subset only' is selected, then the graph R3 will contain the full first subset GRIB wind pattern plotted with gray arrows. However, when 'Moving GRIB' is selected, then a wind pattern is drawn which a boat taking the route #1 - the red route - would experience along the route according to the forecast. In a way, the wind pattern is moving in time along with the boat. This wind pattern is plotted in red arrows and fully valid only for the red route!
  
  
• Polars: Choose between 'Standard' and 'Comfort'. The former are the true polars valid for the boat. The latter are the standard polars modified only at high and low angles to mitigate the effect that the routing algorithm tends to route the boat on-the-edge, i.e. using apparent wind angles that are either too deep or too close to drive consistently for hours or even days. The comfort polars result in less aggressive routes, which have some time penalty, but in then end may actually be faster as they help to avoid pinching, accidental jibes, hourglass spinnackers and other mishaps! The impact of the choice of polars can easily be seen in the graph R2 (see below).
  
  
• Routing: By default the routing begins at the last position of the boat and goes to the finish. Click on 'Full Race' to make routing start at the start point of the race, or enter your own lat/lon.
  
  
• Settings:
  No of days: When set to 0 (zero) routing will automatically stop when the end point is reached. Otherwise isochrones for the set number of days will be calculated, even if they extend far beyond the end point.
  Hours per Isochrone: The default of 6h tends to give best results. Under certain 'twirly' weather scenarios, other settings may be tried. Tuning of speed versus resolution is better done with the Tuning options.
  No of Routes: Typically the first few routes tend to be the same for most of the route, only differing at the end. One can try to enter a larger number (10 - 20) to see if routing flips to a very different route at some point, which, however, may not be worth pursuing any further.
  Show track of reference boat: By default the track of the reference boat will be shown. If this obscures some part of the picture, showing the track can be deselected.
  
  
• Tuning: To select a compromise between fast calculation with lower resolution, and slow calculation with higher resolution. For most situations 'Fast Calc' is adequat. When satisfied with the route, verify with 'Fine Res' that there aren't any local 'twirly' effects which may change outcome. If there are significant differences, then look yourself into the GRIB files (via the GRIB tab) to see if you can make more sense out of the wind pattern.
  
  

The result of the routing calculation will be displayed in one graph R3, and for each route one graph R2; the latter in combination with detailed numbers for the route.

Note that all data points are mouse-over sensitive! Let the mouse pointer rest on any dot, and values will be displayed.

• Graph R3: The graph will show a Mercator chart with isobars, route(s) and track, overlaid on a full GRIB wind pattern or a Moving GRIB pattern, depending on choices made at GRIB file. When the 'Hours per Isobar' is selected to be divisible into 24 (3, 4, 6, 8, 12) then black isobars will represent daily intervals, and gray isobars in the step interval will be drawn in between. The sidebar of the graph provides some key information.
  
  
• Graph R2: This graph is available for each route calculated, but all but the first are hidden. Click on the 'Show / Hide Graph' button to reveal each graph. Note also the 'Show / Hide Numbers' button, which will reveal the numbers plotted in this graph (and more).
  
  The graph shows boatspeed and both true and apparent wind speed (left Y-axis), as well as true and apparent wind angle (right Y-axis). The blue shading at the top and bottom of the graph relates to the wind angles - the darker blue area represents wind angles greater 160 deg, the light blue angles between 150 and 160deg. Sinc apparent wind angles >160 deg may be difficult to drive over extended periods of time, this shading provides some alert to potential critical routing. Note that the use of 'Comfort Polars' will get you out of the critical areas!

PCR is defined in seconds per nautical mile. The time PCR * (lenght of race) will be credited to the boat to determine corrected time, which will then be used to determine the fastest boat on corrected time.

There are two different PCRs, which may have to be considered, one for the boat, and one for the race. In some races (like PCup06) an absolute PCR is given for each boat; the race PCR is then zero. In others (like Tp05) the boats' PCR is given as difference to a reference, e.g. the fastest boat; the race PCR is then greater zero, e.g. 295 in Tp05. An absolute PCR is the sum of boat PCR and race PCR.

The absolute PCR is the time in seconds the boat is expected to need to advance 1 nautical mile, or, when multiplied with the race lenght, the total time expected for the crossing.

The ratio of two absolute PCRs is the speed factor, in Cirrugator it is given as the ratio between any boat and the reference boat. E.g., with Cirrus as the reference boat in the Pacific Cup 2004 with a PCR of 611 (and a race PCR of 0), Mari Cha IV with a PCR of 284 was rated as being 2.15 times faster (speed factor = 2.15). You find this under Tables.

After a time t[h] from the start the boat will have crossed a distance DMG[nm], from which a
VMG[kn]=DMG/t
can be calculated. The corrected time can be calculated as
tcorr[h] = t[h] - PCR[s/nm]*DMG[nm]/3600[s/h]
and VMGcorr determined from DMG and tcorr. However, if the absolute PCR were used, then tcorr would be zero or near zero, with deviations either positive or negative, and VMGcorr may become plus or minus infinity. This approach can obviously not give meaningful data to compare boats on VMGcorr basis.

The solution used in Cirrugator is to use PCR relative to a slow boat. Specifically a PCR of 607 is used (equivalent to 5.93 kn). The resulting formula is then:
VMGcorr[kn] = VMG[kn]* (1 / (1 - VMG[kn] * DeltaPCR[1/kn]))
with
DeltaPCR[1/kn] = (PCR[s/nm] - 607[s/nm]) / 3600[s/h]

What this basically does is to normalize all boats to the Cal40 class.

The TTG (Time To Go) and ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) are based on an weighted average of the VMG (Velocity Made Good) of the last three days. The previous day is weighted with 45%, the day before with 35%, and the oldest day with 20%.

You must be logged-in with Administrator privileges. Then click on the symbol in the menu to open the admin site. Follow links on that site. If you are on a local installation, you may also open the file cirrugator_cfg/c2_cirrugator.cfg in the master directory in any editor, and follow instruction contained in the file EXACTLY. If an error is made Cirrugator will default to the PCup06 race, division Div A, and boat Cirrus.

Cirrugator began his life on Cirrus ("Cirrus Navigator") in the Pacific Cup 2000 as an EXCEL program. Next use was again on Cirrus on the Pacific Cup 2004. It proved itself by giving us the information needed to rescue third place in division literally in the last minutes! The EXCEL program got a bit unwieldy, and therefore in 2006 a beta version of Cirrugator Version 2 was used, at that time already based on a web application running under Kubuntu Linux 6.06 ("Dapper Drake"). Cirrugator is now released as version 2.2.

Cirrugator is a PHP based web application, using the GD library combined with the jpgraph library with class extensions for Mercator projections. Data storage is in a database, either mysql4, mysql5, sqlite 2.83, or sqlite 3. Since it is running as a web application it is operating system independent, and is actively used under Linux and Windows.