SoftSailor ReadMe
=================

Softsailor is a software toolbox for sailing.
It contains a simulator, sailor, controller and optimizer.

The simulator contains a model of a boat's performance.
Provided with a sailor's input (heading, sailchoice) and
environmental conditions (wind, current) it updates the
boats speed and position over time.

The sailor is an entity that converts routing data into
an actual input (heading, sails) for the boat.
It can be ordered to follow a route according to
certain rules, like sailing with an optimal vmg,
avoiding land, not tacking within a specified
amount of time after a previous tack, or staying 
within a certain 'lane'.

The controller is a generic interface to control a 
sailing boat, whether it be a virtual, a model, or
a real full scale sailing boat. Implementations for
virtual sailboats are provided for Virtual Regatta 
and SailOnLine. 

The optimizer is a route planning tool that attempt
to find an optimal route using the simulator with 
predictions of environmental conditions. This part is
the main purpose of this project and the main development
goal. Eventually this can become very complex when
e.g. risc management based on uncertainty of the 
predicted environmental data is taken into account.
The current code only attempts to find the fastest
route assuming the predictions are 100% accurate.