Advanced Racing Simulator

New Release 2008 Edition includes:
• Option to create your own Personal Race Area. This could be either your local racing area or an area you plan to race.
• Four new boat types: 25 foot Sport Boat, 35 foot Sport Boat, Ideal 18, and Offshore Catamaran. Sport Boats and Ideal 18 are sensitive to crew weight changes. Sport Boats have large asymmetrical spinnakers.
• Several single key commands equivalent to Options Menu and Submenu selections.
• Control Buttons for all traveler positions.
• No Broaching command has been added to Control Menu.
• Graphics improvements and changes to accommodate wide screens.
• New 2008 Edition for Windows 98 or better, including XP.
• New 2008 Edition for Macintosh OS X Power PC and Intel-based Macintosh. 2005 Edition Macintosh Classic version included on CD-Rom only.

2008 and 2006 Editions include:
• Twelve popular, real-world racing areas: Northeast Harbor, ME; Marblehead, MA; Newport, RI; Block Island, RI; around Block Island; Essex, CT; Kingston, Ontario; Annapolis, MD; Charleston, SC; Biscayne Bay, FL, and Chicago, IL. Imaginary racing areas that change with each use are still included.
• Zoomable wind vector chart and advanceable current vector chart.
• Wind and current logic are much more detailed. Current fetch and current effect on water roughness are now computed for each boat.
• Before starting, use the wind vector chart and current charts along with existing race course view, weather forecast and wind history starting one hour before the start to select favored end of the line and race strategy. Get the latest update any time when racing.
• At higher difficulty levels, computer controlled boats are much smarter and round marks closer. Speed advantage of these boats is less pronounced. However, not all boats have the same speed potential.
• Key commands for 10º turns per key press permit very quick turns.
• Optional Laylines and Equal Line appear in 3D and overhead views. Windshifts change laylines.
• Additional commands for moving skipper and crew quickly and more precisely around weight sensitive boats.
• Depth sounder added to offshore boats.

2008, 2006, and 2005 Editions include:
• 2005-2008 Racing Rules in simulator and Rules Tutorials.

PURPOSE: A challenge for experts! Great practice for mid-fleet finishers! Experience high-level racing from the skipper’s perspective in an intelligent 20-boat fleet. Very realistic boat response to your sail trim, weight placement, and steering is enhanced by excellent 3D 360º “Roving Eye” graphics and highly accurate performance logic. Create your own Personal Race Area or choose from twelve popular real-world racing areas or variable, imaginary racing areas. You’ll need to be quick with tactics and strategy and sail your boat well! Interactive tutorials teach 2005-2008 Racing Rules and racing tactics and strategy. Easy to use computer interface!

FLEET: Choose from Optimist, Laser, Boards (Windsurfer derivative), Snipe, JY15, 505, Skiff, Thistle, Lightning, Star, Tornado Catamaran, Non-Spinnaker Catamaran, A Class Catamaran, Keelboat, Ideal 18, 25 foot Sport Boat, 35 foot Sport Boat, Offshore Catamaran, Sprit Offshore Racer, Offshore Racer, Racer-Cruiser, Cruising Canvas, America’s Cup, or Model Yacht classes. Boat behavior, sail inventory, and shape controls are extremely accurate for each class. Model Yacht has realistic model boat steering and sheet control. Specify length, displacement, sail area, rig, tiller, or wheel for the Sprit Offshore Racer, Racer-Cruiser, Cruising Canvas, Offshore Racer, and Keelboat. 20 boat fleet or match race the wily computer in any class!

OPPONENT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: All opponents know their pre-start maneuvers, tactics, strategy, 2005-2008 Racing Rules, how to give and avoid bad air, and how to sail the selected boat. Their expertise increases with the difficulty level you pick – up to world-class performance! At higher difficulty levels, your computer opponents are very smart and the match racer is formidable! At higher difficulty levels, the boatspeed advantage of the computer controlled boats is less pronounced. However, not all boats have the same speed potential.

BOAT HANDLING AND BOATSPEED: Upwind, steer to follow telltales, heel angle, or target speed (large boats). Downwind, steer to mainsail telltales, spinnaker breaks, or target wind angles (large boats). Trim and shape the mainsail by adjusting mainsheet, outhaul, luff tension, vang, mast bend, or traveler. Fine tune the jib sheet and use jib shaping, forestay, and jib luff tension controls. On large boats, set different headsails. You have a lot of control of weight - position skipper and crew precisely - In, out, back, forward, leeward, trapeze, etc. Also, traveler controls have been expanded and extensive refinements made in tacking downwind logic and off wind boat control to accommodate the catamaran classes.

Boat behavior is realistic in response to your steering, sail trim, and weight placement as well as wind and waves. Behavior is based on extremely accurate performance calculation models that determine leeway, speed through the water, heel angle, etc.

Steer manually, by key press, or by click steering. Option to fine-tune tacking downwind angles or pinching and footing when beating, by small increments, up to a total of 10º of adjustment, using single key and button commands.

Use the TRIM MODE to fine-tune sail trim, sail selection, and weight placement, and generate speed polars.

NEW SCENARIOS AND CONDITIONS YOU CAN SELECT OR CREATE:

• Courses – Triangle, windward/leeward, downwind finish windward/leeward with long first beat or Gold Cup. Select once or twice around, marks to port or starboard. Option for a gate at the end of any run not ending at the finish for fleets of 15 boats or more.
• Starting – Option for 5 minute or 10 minute pre-start periods, or no pre-start period with a perfect start.
• Create A Personal Race Area – Use the Create Menu to define your race area, including the shape of the primary and secondary shores, islands, topography, current and wind directions, rivers, and bays.
• Real Racing Areas – Select from twelve popular real-world racing areas: Northeast Harbor, ME; Marblehead, MA; Newport, RI; Block Island, RI; around Block Island; Essex, CT; Thurmond Lake, GA/SC; Kingston, Ontario; Annapolis, MD; Charleston, SC; Biscayne Bay, FL; and Chicago, IL. Currents and winds are realistic for the area selected.
• Conditions and Imaginary Racing Areas – Select tide or no tide, shoreline and wind directions, nearby shore options with major effects on wind and current behavior. Five lakes and rivers racing areas add strategic challenge with shoreline affected winds. Southern hemisphere sailors can set the earth’s rotation effects in the simulator to match conditions in their hemisphere.
• Wind Strength – Selection impacts forecast, which differs every race and gives information about weather systems, sea breezes, and wind history prior to the start.
• Three Race Series Option – Gives finish positions and 3 race series points for the entire fleet. Your skill score is based on difficulty selected and finish.

COMPLETELY NEW COMPUTER INTERFACE: Whole new screen layout! Includes easy to use Control Buttons and new commands. Optional refined steering with the mouse. Very intuitive. Buttons are context sensitive and change depending on what you are doing with the boat. Buttons are color coded to give quick status updates on your boat controls.

REALISTIC 3D 360° “ROVING EYE” GRAPHICS: In the zoomable 3D Sailing View, you see your boat and all sails in fine detail, responding to adjustments and steering. You see the competition, the shore, marks, committee boat, white caps, puffs of wind on the water, etc. A great deal of geographic variety has been added. 500% more detail in graphics. In the 3D Wide Angle and Sailing Views, you can look at your boat from any angle and look in any direction up to a full 360°to keep an eye on the fleet.

Use Control Buttons and single key commands to quickly and frequently look upwind to scout for wind and approaching starboard tackers.

Optional windows include sizeable, zoomable overhead views for quick grasp of tactical situations and a race course chart.

INTERACTIVE ANIMATED TUTORIALS:

You can use any of the interactive tutorials any time you are racing or between races. Race action is put on hold while you use the tutorials.

Racing Rules of Sailing Tutorials cover:

• Opposite Tacks
• Same Tack Overtaking
• Marks And Obstructions
• Rounding A Windward Mark
• Tacking For Obstructions
• Same Tack Before Starting
• Room At A Starting Mark And Other Miscellaneous Topics.

Tactics And Strategy Tutorials cover:

• Windshift Effects, Lifts, Headers, And Laylines
• Strategy For Oscillating Winds
• Strategy For One Side Favored
• Downwind Strategy
• Wind Prediction And Currents
• Wind Interference From Other Boats
• Starting And Mark Rounding.

FEATURES THAT HELP YOU IMPROVE YOUR RACING & ENJOYMENT:

• Continued improvements in simulator speed and graphics detail to take advantage of newer, faster, wide screen computers, while still being fully useable on older Pentium and OS X computers.
• Sound Effects give you feedback on sail trim (luffing sails), boatspeed (rushing water), etc.
• Coach, if asked, critiques your tactics, boatspeed, and sail trim while racing and after the finish. Continued refinements to coaching model. Expanded help screens give tips to improve your racing. Use interactive Tactics and Strategy Tutorials at any time during or after racing to learn more.
• Instant Justice Protest Committee penalizes all offenders, tells the 2005-2008 Racing Rule violated and its number. Use the interactive Racing Rules Tutorials to learn more. Options for automatic warning and simulator slow-down if your boat is likely to foul.
• Option to Replay a Leg in progress or just completed.
• Racing Suggestions ebook gives expert advice on boatspeed, tactics, strategy, wind and weather patterns.
• Reference manual e-book gets you racing quickly.

• Option Selections in the Windows version are saved when you quit the simulator for easy repeatability. Additional easy to use on-screen help features. Use Macintosh single key commands to quickly select options before the first race.
• 15 Levels of Difficulty keep you on the learning curve and having fun! Difficulty impacts sailing conditions and determines opponent abilities so that even the best racers will be challenged race after race!
• Zoomable Wind Chart – Displays wind vectors over the entire race course at that instant and shows what caused the wind pattern: channeling, divergence, convergence, weather systems, puffs, etc. Very detailed wind logic.
• Page ahead in the zoomable Wind Chart view for an hour-by-hour update on tide changes in both real and imaginary racing areas. Current fetch and current effect on water roughness are now computed for each boat. Current logic is very complex.
• Laylines and equal progress lines can be displayed. They show in all views.
• All boats are identified by name and distinctive hull and sail color for fast identification while racing. Name your boat! Display boat names while racing and on results page to keep track of competition during a race series.
• Quickly control simulator speed pressing Control Buttons and single key commands – Slow while starting, at mark roundings, or during tricky maneuvers. Speed up on long downwind legs.
• Ease of Use Features - Optional, easy mouse click steering. Quick-Click Mainsheet Control Bar. Optional tack, jibe, and sail closehauled commands. Key commands for quick 10º turns. Many hot keys and control buttons. Help Screens. Options to give some jobs to the computer, such as: Tracking headers and lifts, mainsheet trim, upwind steering, or steering and tactics, while you adjust sails.