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Short distance sailing is a term which is applied to sailing along a rhumb-line for distances less than 600 nautical miles. From the formulas derived above, the following are used extensively in short distance sailing:
Using two different examples, this video shows how to calculate the course and distance between two positions; and how to calculate the position arrived if d...
In broad terms, there are two main types of sailing, namely, the Rhumb Line sailing and the Great Circle sailing. The Mercator Sailing is the most accurate method employed in marine navigation to handle calculations related to Rhumb Line sailing.
In navigation, a rhumb line, rhumb (/ r ʌ m /), or loxodrome is an arc crossing all meridians of longitude at the same angle, that is, a path with constant bearing as measured relative to true north.
A rhumb line makes the same angle with all meridians it crosses and appears as a straight line on a Mercator chart. The principal advantage of a rhumb line is that it maintains
The initial rhumb line course equals the orthodromic course at the middle latitude. The rule is mnemonic and straightforward for practical navigation.
Dutton's rhumb line calculation is different from mine, and takes into account the earth's eccentricity e = .082483399. The tables used in Mercator sailing, and the java applets available on the web, take this factor into account: instead of they use.
