What is SAILING?

A method of solving the various problems involving course, distance, difference of

latitude, difference of longitude, and departure. The various methods are collectively spoken of
as the sailings. Plane sailing considers the earth as a plane. Traverse sailing applies the principles
of plane sailing to determine the equivalent course and distance made good by a craft following a
track consisting of a series of rhumb lines. Any of the sailings which considers the spherical or
spheroidal shape of the earth is called spherical sailing. Middlelatitude sailing is a method of
converting departure into difference of longitude, or vice versa, by assuming that such a course is
steered at the middle or mean latitude; if the course is 090° or 270° true, it is called parallel
sailing.
Mercator sailing applies when the various elements are considered in their relation on a
Mercator chart. Meridian sailing is used when the course is 000° or 180° true. Rhumb-line
sailing is used when a rhumb line is involved; great- circle sailing when a great circle track is
involved. Composite sailing is a modification of great circle sailing used when it is desired to
limit the highest latitude. The expression current sailing is occasionally used to refer to the
process of allowing for current in determining the predicted course made good, or of determining
the effect of a current on the direction of motion of a vessel.
ORIGIN OF SAILING

Travel back thousands of years to a period where there were no main roads and the
efficiency of travelling by water soon becomes clear. The very first forms of ‘boat’ to be used
were most likely nothing more than logs, which were either tied together to form a raft or
hollowed out to make canoes. These logs were then propelled either by simple paddles or poles,
which could be pushed into the river bed.

HISTORY OF SAILING

The first sailing boats had single masts

with square sails fixed to them. Over the
centuries, boatbuilders arranged their boats'
sails, called the rig, in various ways designed
to catch the wind more efficiently. A square
rig consists of sails hung on a spar across the
boat. The fore-and-aft rig, with a triangular
sail hanging from a spar parallel with the
boat’s sides, is more effective at making the
best use of wind blowing from side on. By the 15th century, many ships had a mixture of rigs:
square-rigged sails on some masts and fore-and-aft sails on others. Ships (large vessels) could
now sail across the oceans.

PLANE SAILING

Plane sailing solves problems involving a single course and distance, difference of
latitude, and departure, in which the Earth is regarded as a plane surface.
This method, therefore, provides solution for latitude of the point of arrival, but not for
longitude. To calculate the longitude, the spherical sailings are necessary.

Plane sailing is not intended for distances of more than a few hundred miles.
Since the track is cutting all meridians at the same angle, Plane Sailing is also one of the methods
of Rhumb Line Sailing. In a short distance, a rhumb line appears as straight line, but the track is
actually a curve and, if extended, it will eventually spiral in on the North or South Pole. Because
the unit of latitude is not the same as the unit of longitude, the difference of longitude has to be
calculated to become departure, which is expressed as a latitude unit.

PLANE SAILING: DEPARTURE = (D’LONG X COS M LAT DEP)

 Parallel sailing is the interconversion
of departure and difference of
longitude when a vessel is proceeding
due east or due west.

PARALLEL
SAILING: DEPARTURE=
(D’LONG X COS LAT D’ LONG)

GERARDUS MERCATOR

MERCATOR SAILING
Mercator sailing provides a mathematical solution of the plot as made on a Mercator
chart. It is similar to plane sailing, but uses meridional difference and difference of longitude in
place of difference of latitude and departure.

Find course & Distance:

TAN CO = (D’LONG /DMP D’LAT)
DIST. = (D’LAT / COS CO)

Find Arrival Postion:

D’LONG = (TAN CO X DMP)
 A method of solving the various problems
involving course, distance, difference of latitude,
difference of longitude, and departure by
considering them in the relation in which they are
plotted on a Mercator chart. It is similar to plane
sailing, but uses meridional difference and
difference of longitude in place of difference of
latitude and departure, respectively.
Mercator Sailing is another method of Rhumb
Line Sailing. It is used to find the course and
distance between two positions that are in
different latitudes from the large D. Lat. and
distance. It is similar to plane sailing, except that plane sailing is used for small distances. Also,
in Mercator sailing, the D. Lat. is expressed in Longitude units, which is the difference of
meridional parts (D.M.P.), whereas in plane sailing, the D. Long. is expressed in latitude units or
nautical miles.

A meridional part for any particular latitude is the length along a meridian on a Mercator
chart, measured in units of the longitude scale, between the Equator and the parallel of that
particular latitude. It can be extracted from nautical tables. Difference of meridional parts is the
difference between the meridional parts for any two latitudes. The rules for finding D.M.P. are
the same as for finding D. Lat., i.e., same names, subtract; different names, add.

 DLO = LONG1 +/- LONG2 (same sign subtract, unlike sign add same rule apply to
DLAT and DMP)
 DLAT = LAT1 +/- LAT2
 DMP = MP1 +/- MP2
 MP = LAT/2 +45 TAN LOG ANS x 7915.7 - SIN (LAT) x 23.27

(to assure that there are no errors, follow the exact format of formula. For more accuracy, look
for a "useful navigational table")
 COURSE = DLO/DMP SHIFT TAN ANS

(DONT PRESS DEGREES AND MINUTES)

 DISTANCE = DLAT/COS(COURSE)
 STEAMING TIME = DISTANCE/SPEED
 ETA = ETD + ST
(note that whenever you cross the UTC you may have to add or subtract the local time of the
place you are heading to. Approaching westward means adding the local time of your destination
and approaching eastward means subtracting the local time of your destination)

PARALLEL SAILING
The Parallel Sailing method is used to find the distance between two positions on the
same latitude. The distance measured along a parallel of latitude between any two meridians is
called the Departure (Dep.). Dep. D. Long. cos(Lat.)

GREAT CIRCLE SAILING

Great circle sailing involves the solution of courses, distances, and points along a great
circle between two points.

Great Circle Sailing is used for long ocean passages. For this purpose, the earth is
considered a perfect spherical shape; therefore, the shortest distance between two points on its
surface is the arc of the great circle containing two points. As the track is the circle, so the course
is constantly changing, and the track must be broken down into a series of short rhumb lines at
frequent intervals that can be used to sail on the Mercator chart. Doing this, the navigator would
use the Gnomonic charts combined with the Mercator charts to draw the sailing track.

Find Dist:
COS AB = (COS PA X COS PB) + (SIN PA X SIN PB X COS P)

Find Initial Course:

( COS PB – COS AB X COS PA)
COS A = ———————————–
( SIN AB X SIN PA)

Find Final Course:

 ( COS PA – COS AB) X ( COS PB)
COS B = ————————————–
(SIN AB X SIN PB)

The initial course always has same name as

the initial latitude and east or west direction of the
course. The final course always has the opposite name
from final latitude unless initial position and final position are in different hemispheres, when the
final will have same name as final latitude and east or west direction of the course.

Note :

Traverse sailing combines the plane sailing solutions when there are two or more courses and
determines the equivalent course and distance made good by a vessel steaming along a series of
rhumb lines.

Middle- (or mid-) latitude sailing uses the mean latitude for converting departure to difference of
longitude when the course is not due east or due west.

Middle-latitude sailing combines plane sailing and parallel sailing. Plane sailing is used to find
difference of latitude and departure when course and distance are known, or vice versa. Parallel
sailing is used to interconvert departure and difference of longitude.