PROGRAM FEATURES |
Force 2 | Offchart Racer |
Force 4 |
| DISPLAY & USE OF PREDICTED CURRENTS | |||
| Digital Magnitude and Streamer Direction | X |
. |
X |
| Automatic Vector Display | X |
X |
X |
| Add User-defined Current Displaypoints | X |
. |
X |
| Save & Recall User-defined Displaypoints | X |
. | X |
| "Bubbles" Dynamic Display to Study Currents | X |
. | X |
| Twenty-Four Hour Currents Values at any Point | X | X | X |
| Use Currents in Navigational & Tactical Computations | X |
X |
X |
| Compute Corrected Heading to Compensate Variable Current | X | X |
X |
| Compute & Display Current-Corrected Laylines | X |
X |
X |
| Compare Times to Mark via Port & Starboard Laylines (2-tack) | . | X | X |
| Compute Time to Reach Current-corrected Layline | . | X | X |
| DISPLAY AND USE OF WIND PREDICTIONS | |||
| Convert Wind Grib Files to Editable Form | . | X | X |
| Build , Edit and Display Wind Prediction Models | . | X | X |
| Use Wind Prediction Models in Course Solutions & Routing | . | X | X |
| Compare Wind Files and Export Wind Models as Grib Files | . | . |
X |
| INTERPRET AND INCORPORATE BOAT INSTRUMENTS | |||
| GPS (position data) | X | X | X |
| Boat direction and speed | X | X | X |
| Show boat position onscreen and report speed & heading | X | X | X |
| Wind meter, water temperature | . | X | X |
| Compute true & apparent wind; correct for current | . | X | X |
| CONSTRUCT & USE BOAT PERFORMANCE DATA (POLARS) | |||
| Use measured data to construct boat polar file | . | X | X |
| Input spreadsheet boatspeed values to build polar file | . | X | X |
| Use polar file in course solutions and routing computations | . | X | X |
| Display target boatspeed for measured TWS & TWA | . | . | X |
| COURSE AND MARK (WAYPOINT) FUNCTIONS | |||
| Define Marks (Waypoints) by Drag & Drop or Coordinates | X | X | X |
| Define Marks by Range & Bearing | . | . | X |
| Combine Marks into Courses; Edit Courses | X | X | X |
| Define Quick Marks & Quick Courses by Point & Click | . |
X | X |
| Recall & Display Courses for Navigation & Solution | X | X | X |
| Analyze Course for Range, Bearing & TWA on Each Leg | X | X | X |
| Compute Average Current/Wind & ETA for Each Leg | . | . | X |
| Simultaneous Display of Different Courses | . | . | X |
| ROUTING AND COURSE SOLUTION FUNCTIONS | |||
| Solve Course with Wind/Current for range, headings, times | X | X | X |
| Use Routing Engine to Compute Optimal & Comparison Routes | . | X | X |
| Step along Routes to show locations at intermediate times | . | X | X |
| Additional Routing Options for Upwind & Downwind Legs | . | . | X |
| Compare Routing with Specified Wind Variations | . | . | X |
| Route with Optional (approx) Intermediate Points | . | . | X |
| Save Optimal Route as a Course to recall & solve | . | X | X |
| Show predicted winds at time intervals on comparison routes | . | . | X |
| Use predicted and recorded positions to analyze wind forecasts | . | . | X |
| OTHER NAVIGATION FUNCTIONS | |||
| Range and Bearing from Boat to Mark (or Cursor Location) | X | X | X |
| Compute and Display Rhumbline from Boat/Mark to Mark | X | X | X |
| Compute and Display Great Circle Route from Boat/Mark to Mark | . | X | X |
| Save Track for Later Replay, with Wind & Current | . | X | X |
| CHARTS PROVIDED & CHARTMAKER UTILITY | |||
| Standard Charts come with Each Current Region | X | X | X |
| Create a Chart from Any Image for Use in Navigation | . | X | X |
| BOAT SIMULATIONS WITH WIND & CURRENT | |||
| Simulated Boat Motion with Current (constant boatspeed) | X | X | X |
| Simulated Boat Motion with Wind & Current, Boat Polars | . | . | X |
| BOUY RACING AND OTHER SPECIAL FUNCTIONS (Force 4 Only) | |||
| Starting Line Functions (favored end, favored side of course) | . | . | X |
| Windward-Leeward Course (R/B + automatic correction) | . | . | X |
| Special "VMG" Display (visualize optimal route) | . | . | X |
| Show Measured Wind Vectors at Intervals along Track | . | . | X |
| "Look-Ahead" (current-corrected heading, TWA on next leg) | . | . | X |
| Current-Corrected Tacking Angles & Projected Boat Motion | . | . | X |
| Strip-Charts compare measured & predicted wind; performance | . | X | X |
| Price of Program (2006 Edition) | $200 | $695 | $2000 |