Podcast EP#240 Jon Bilger Founder of Predict Wind
April 27, 2024 · 1h 3m · 234 views · Waiheke Island
What this video covers
PredictWind founder Jon Bilger joins Jerome Rand to discuss the platform's capabilities for offshore passage planning.Watch Bilger traces PredictWind's origins to 2010 and his decade running the weather team for the Swiss America's Cup syndicate, explaining how the company pivoted from racing to cruising sailors.2:08 The core tool is weather routing built around a boat's polar performance curve, which calculates the fastest or most comfortable path and gives an accurate forecast for where the boat will actually be along the route.10:02 A new AI Polar device, priced around $300 USD, records wind speed, wind direction, wind angle, and wave data to build a boat-specific polar from real sailing.10:43 The departure planning tool compares multiple departure dates side by side, summarizing upwind percentage, wave state, and conditions across the passage.19:49 Three comfort metrics — RMS roll (dangerous above four degrees for deck work), vertical acceleration (linked to seasickness), and boat slamming — are calculated per boat per trip.21:09 Tidal and ocean currents worldwide are integrated into routing, with automatic wind-against-current warnings.29:00 A separate app called Predict Current delivers current and wind data for coastal users.30:43 Bilger and Rand also discuss a dismasting incident caused by a failed chainplate, handled by cutting the rig free and jury-rigging for a downwind run to port.39:21
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