Favored End Calculator
Identify which end of the start line is favored by comparing the time to sail the line against the true wind direction.
Description
Identify which end of the start line is favored by comparing the time to sail the line against the true wind direction.
Favored End Calculator is a focused tool for the following task. Identify which end of the start line is favored by comparing the time to sail the line against the true wind direction. It reports Favored end, Bias from the values you provide rather than inventing measurements, coefficients, or professional judgment that are not part of the input.
When to use Favored End
Use this sailing calculation for planning or education when the vessel, units, reference directions, environmental conditions, and assumptions are explicitly known.
- Line length (nm)
- Required number in nm. Length of the starting line.
- Boat speed (kt)
- Required number in kt. Boat speed used to sail the line.
- Line bearing (°)
- Required number in °. Compass bearing of the line from committee boat to pin.
- True wind from (°)
- Required number in °. Direction the true wind blows from.
The cited overview of Sailing supplies background for the terminology and domain context used by this tool.1
How Favored End works
Identify which end of the start line is favored by comparing the time to sail the line against the true wind direction. Inputs are interpreted exactly in the displayed units and the calculation returns the following fields without presentation rounding.
- Favored end
- Returned string. End of the line that is favored.
- Bias (s)
- Returned number in s. Signed time advantage in seconds for sailing the line.
Limitations and assumptions
- Vessel design and loading, sea state, wind, current, tide datum, weather, chart accuracy, equipment, crew, and safety margins can make real conditions differ from a simplified result.
- Use finite inputs in the displayed units, preserve source measurements and assumptions, and independently verify consequential decisions.
Alternative or Complementary approaches
Cross-check current charts, tide and weather services, instrument data, vessel manuals, and applicable navigation rules, and retain a conservative alternative plan.
References
-
Sailing — Wikipedia contributors
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