A road book is something not talked about too often when we head off for an overnight passage or race. You may create a passage plan….but a road book contains more significant markers along the way. The road book contains your “gates” and the sail plan to get you there. It includes the weather routing you have done by hand or generated with software. It includes who your emergency contacts are along the way and the prevailing winds you expect to see when the short range forecast runs out. The road book is a significant tool in the plannings of your passage. Here you see a picture of the weather routing update I added to my road book for the start of the Mini Transat. It was a significant weather system that held us at the dock for literally weeks. But because I had done such deep work on building my road book and then adding updates as our delay went on….when it was time to go I was ready at the drop of a hat. Because I so intimately knew my road book it also meant that while underway when the race was abandoned, I knew exactly where I was….what to expect and where to go while sailing in a part of the world I had never transited before.
In my Offshore Racing Program you will become versed in building a road book. To learn more, check out the Offshore Racing Progam.
