Weather Routing Now With Depth Avoidance

In a world first for weather routing, the PredictWind Weather Router now uses Depth Avoidance, rather than traditional land avoidance. In order to achieve this, PredictWind acquired 2m/5m/10m/20m/30m depth contours for the entire world. This massive depth contour dataset sits on the PredictWind servers, so that you can easily route your boat safely around shallow areas, using your selected depth contour.

Why is it important?

A weather router that goes across the land or into shallow water renders the optimal route meaningless. The optimal route must be a route that your boat can actually follow in real life. For coastal routing this depth constraint is an essential feature, and often has a significant effect on the optimal route.

Are there any limitations of using Depth Avoidance?

The weather route should still be checked against navigational charts for rocks and other hazards. However in most cases the weather route will be safe for navigation.