Utilisateur de MaxSea depuis de nombreuses années, j’ai acquis en 2009 la version TimeZero qui m’a accompagné sans faiblesse tout au long d’un parcours Atlantique de Bretagne aux Antilles par le Sénégal et le Brésil. J’apprécie la fiabilité de la cartographie (celle des cartes papier que j’utilisais antérieurement) et la fluidité dans le changement d’échelle.

J’utilise bien sûr les diverses fonctions proposées pour la navigation (points, routes, routage) mais la possibilité de recevoir des fichiers météo (fichiers grib de Sea Chopper) à tout moment et en tout lieu avec l’iridium est pour ma part, déterminante. Ces fichiers sont de plus en plus précis et complets (vent, précipitations, vagues etc..)

Certaines fonctions m’apparaissaient secondaires. Les photos satellites appartenaient à cette catégorie jusqu’à ce que je découvre que celles-ci pouvaient être beaucoup plus précises que les cartographies officielles peu fiables en certains endroits peu fréquentés de notre parcours.

Je suis donc un utilisateur très satisfait de MaxSea et si je peux me permettre une réserve, celle-ci concerne la possibilité de mise à jour en ligne, des cartes.

Are a you a MaxSea user?  How about sharing your experience with fellow sailors? Send your testimonials to info@maxsea.fr or vist us at: http://www.facebook.com/maxseasoftware

The race, exclusively conceived for Class40 boats, will be preceded by a music festival in Nantes from 1^st to 3rd March and other cultural activities like a big parade on the Loire River between Nantes and Saint Nazaire.

After 9.260 km, the sailors expect overseas a colorful and warmful welcoming committee in the Mayan territory, with traditional dances and music to celebrate the accomplishment of this transatlantic race that helped raise 500.000 euros in its first edition.

MaxSea thanks the organization of La Solidaire du Chocolat for letting us participate to this great solidarity event in support of the people of Yucatán once again.

Follow the event at: http://www.lasolidaireduchocolat.com/fr/accueil

Follow MaxSea Official Facebook Page for more news about our company and partners: www.facebook.com/maxseainternational

If you want to know more about MaxSea TimeZero Software range, please visit us at: http://www.maxsea.com/time_zero_range

We’ll post the pictures here every week as well and soon, Jacques will also write a very special monthly chronicle about his own trips and adventures for us.

Welcome aboard Jacques!

—

Jacques Vapillon Bio

See Jacques Vapillon’s great pictures at:

www.vapillon.com and Sea & Co

Some pointers …

1957 born in Annemasse, Haute-Savoie

1959-78 living in the south of France and Tunisia

1979 moved to Plymouth (UK) – College of Art & Design – photography section

1983 starts as a freelance photographer in La Trinite-sur-Mer.

1988 beginning of collaboration with DPPI Press Agency

1993 opening of his exhibition gallery at La Trinité-sur-Mer.

2004 began a sailing tour of the Mediterranean

2011 becomes a member of the maritime photographers group Sea & Co

Let’s take a look at this video,  recorded yesterday by our partner Courrier Dunkerque during the event:

If you can’t visualize the video, please refer to its original source.

Nine teams from six different nations were scheduled to set sail yesterday, but due to strong winds, the race start has been delayed to 0700 hours local time today, February 13. The teams will race over 14 days visiting 7 stopovers, and covering 1.408 kilometres on their way.

Here are some pictures of Team Courrier Dunkerque:

Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad al Khalifa, President of Bahrain Olympics committee and Shaikh Khalifa bin Abdulla al Khalifa, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and President of Bahrain Maritime Sports Association, were among those who joined Oman Sail CEO David Graham at the ceremony, to officially inaugurate the 2012 edition of the race.

MaxSea International wishes the best of luck to our partner Courrier Dunkerque!

Nous avançons tout droit vers cette masse sombre et très haute. La lune n’éclaire rien et nous devons attendre l’alignement, sur babord, des deux feux avant de changer de cap et ne plus pointer sur la « tour d’Hercules ».

Le barreur s’inquiète un peu même si le sondeur nous indique une confortable profondeur. A la table à cartes, sous MaxSea, je suis la progression du bateau que je consolide par des sorties dans le cockpit. Cela fait maintenant 2 jours et 9 heures que nous sommes partis de l’ile d’Yeu et nous avons optimisés notre trajet en utilisant les fonctionnalités de TimeZero. A 23 heures et après le changement de bord, comme je l’avais dessiné sur ma route, nous approchons de l’entrée du port de La Corogne. Une demi-heure plus tard nous sommes amarrés au ponton.

Le confort, la sécurité, la facilité d’utilisation ainsi qu’une base complète d’informations font de MaxSea TimeZero un outil d’aide à la navigation très important sur un voilier. Il ne faut surtout pas oublier les règles de bases d’une bonne gestion de la navigation mais, tout au long de notre périple entre la France, l’Espagne, le Portugal, Madère et les Açores, nous avons appréciés toute l’aide que MaxSea TimeZero a pu nous apporter et tout le temps qu’il nous a laissé pour vivre de bons moments en navigation.

For this 7^th edition, that is going to take place in Le Havre from June 8^th to 10th, MaxSea provided the event with MaxSea TimeZero maritime navigation software, charts and a Routing module, to be used by the race direction.

Last year, the event featured 4 days of races, 112 participants, 106 yachts ranked, 89 races launched across 11 series, 3 race zones in a single day, split between 4 different fleets, harbor courses, one long coastal course around the Seine Bay and one offshore course for the M34s.

Follow the event at: www.normandy-week.com

Follow MaxSea Official Facebook Page for more news about our company and partners: www.facebook.com/maxseainternational

If you want to know more about MaxSea TimeZero Software range, please visit us at: http://www.maxsea.com/time_zero_range

As temperatures are reaching amazingly low levels all across Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, with freezing winds coming from the east and the north, let’s take a look at wind, rain and cloud data taken from MaxSea TimeZero for this weekend.

Winds blowing at 40,4kn are expected on Friday night:

With high rain levels in both Italian coasts:

And big clouds covering large areas of the Mediterranean Sea:

If you want to know more about MaxSea TimeZero weather forecast service please visit our website.

Or watch this video tutorial on how to update the weather forecast on MaxSea TimeZero.

With Daniel Souben as Skipper, one of France most experienced sailors, Courrier Dunkerque team won both the 2008 and 2009 editions of the Tour de France à la Voile, as well as the Farr 30 World Championships in 2010.

The race, aiming to promote sailing in the region, starts on February 12^th and ends on February 27^th with the following teams:

1 – Courrier Dunkerque

2 – Team Muscat 2012

3 – Team Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

4 – Al Thuraya BankMuscat

5 – Team Renaissance

6 – Team Commercialbank Group

7 – BAE Systems

8 – Team Ras Al Khaimah

9 – Team Bahrain

Follow the race at the official event website: www.sailingarabiathetour.com

For more information about COURRIER DUNKERQUE: http://www.sailingarabiathetour.com/team/Dunkerque

Follow MaxSea Official Facebook Page for more news about our company and partners: www.facebook.com/maxseainternational

As you can see below, the Costa Concordia ship is too big to navigate in such a narrow place.

Even if we’re still not certain about the exact point of impact at the moment, it’s likely that it was close to Isole le Scole:

Here is a 2D display of the most probable impact zone. In 2D mode, we understand that this place is definitely made of shallow and rocky waters:

3D mode brings added value to the chart information. It allows us to easily display and understand the prompt depth change. Let’s see the ship again in 3D:

And now, the depth of the potential impact area:

Combined, 2D and 3D display modes give a better, more accurate and safer way to plan a route and avoid dangerous spots.

The study of the mapping is essential to understand this shipwreck. The commander of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, had the following comments: “While we were sailing in cruising speed, we hit a rock. According to the nautical chart, there should have been sufficient water below us. “

However, this claim was quickly checked and disproved by the Italian Coast Guard, which prompted us to investigate the area using the different MapMedia charts available, in order to have a better understanding of the accident.

The Bay of Giglio Porto, southeast of the island of Giglio off Tuscany, was the site of the accident:

Zooming on the Raster MapMedia mm3d chart – based on the Italian hydrographic services information. The depth is about 10 meters: the draft of the Costa Concordia is 8.50 meters, so it was particularly risky to operate the ship in this area:

With PhotoFusion function, which allows to overlay satellite information transparently on the same chart, we can appreciate how shallow is the water in this area:

MapMedia mm3d C-MAP by Jeppesen data has exactly the same information in the area called “Isole Le Scole”:

Finally, the 3D display of this MapMedia information confirms this particular shallow water environment:

MaxSea International is deeply saddened after this terrible accident and expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the victims.