Squid

[franksingleton]

Does anyone use Squid, Squid Sailing I get occasional emails advertising their services.

is it worth paying for? What is there that is not available free elsewhere?

 

[bitbaltic]

I had it for the 2015 fastnet. Can’t remember much about the software but it was clunky and I didn’t like it. It had access to a lot of different weather models but how different they were is debatable. They were mostly French and European outputs

 

[westhinder]

I had it for a year, mainly for my son who races. For my cruising, which that year included two Biscay crossings, I had high hopes for the routing tool, but that is only useful if you have a polar diagram for your boat, which I did not. I did not bother with it afterwards as I have quite enough free weather info on the internet

 

[r_h]

I used it in the 2017 RORC TransAtlantic race, back when we could download ECMWF gribs and was very happy, but we were using Expedition for routing, so haven't really tried the Squid tools for that purpose...
...but I know it's highly rated by a lot of French sailors.

 

[franksingleton]

From the few replies, I guess that few use Squid Sailing. I asked because it seemed am expensive way of getting otherwise freely available information. Even ECMWF forecasts are now free windy.com although not in GRIB format suitable for routing purposes.





I assume that the “hires” Atlantic data is ECMWF presented on a 0.1 degree grid rather than a Limited Area Model. Other available global models, eg US GFS, ICON use grids of about 0.125 degrees but only provide the output on a 0,25 degree grid. For ocean passages, even for Biscay, which I have done many times, it is the large scale evolution, rather than small scale detail. that is important,





Rather like PredictWind, I guess that it is the presentation and sales talk that keep them in business. It cannot be the quality of the weather information per se.

 

[Kerenza]

I pay for arome hd model, a small sum. i find it a good indicator at local level., to use with squid.
there are a few different versions of the Squid software, all free.
i use the main pogramme on a pc and have android versions on my phone and two tablets.
its an easy to use, low bandwidth when necessary, display programme.
i have on going issues with the satellite derived tidal stream displays at land edges.
I have polars but the routing is of no use inshore.
No personal experience properly offshore.
most pros use it as a collection interface, with other programmes such as expedition using the data, both real and historical.

 

[r_h]

I pay for arome hd model, a small sum. i find it a good indicator at local level., to use with squid.

In the absence of being able to use GRIBs from fine-grained MetOffice models, Arome HD is really excellent for short-term (upto 36hr) detail.

 

[franksingleton]

I always raise my eyebrows at the use by sailors of high resolution forecasts. First, there is at least 3 hours between the data time and the production of the forecasts. By the time you are using them, it can be upwards of 4 or 5 hours after data time. Weather details of about 20-30 km size have life spans of about 6 hours maximum. They cannot be predicted explicitly beyond that time. Detailed models can predict topographically generated effects such as the Solent or, even Tor Bay, sea breeze effects but may well not do so. Much can depend on small scale effects such as cloud cover.

Areas used for highly detailed predictions are small. Boundary conditions have to come from models running on coarser grids. In fast moving situations, the forecast quickly becomes dominated by developments outside the fine grid area. There are good reasons for national Meteorological services to run fine scale models, such as very short term prediction of heavy rain or fog over roads and airports. For sailors, they might help at times near the coast but I would not put too much trust in them. Windy.com has a forecast comparison facility. This lets you compare ECMWF (10 km grid). NOAA GFS (12.5 km), ICON-EU (6 km) and AROME (1.3 km) . When sailing, I have sometimes looked at these and not seen any significantly better result from AROME. Admittedly, it is a fairly small sample, perhaps 30 or do occasions and no attempt to undertake a rigorous test.

 

[Kerenza]

i always raise my eyebrows when someone fails to appreciate my particular methods and usage and translates them to their own.

 

[franksingleton]

I have often said that if you find a service meets your requirements and worth paying for, then OK, use it. I have no idea about knowledge of computer forecasts by others in these forums. As someone who has worked with models, who knows about the data used, the analysis techniques, model performance and who has kept an eye on developments I probably know more than most. I look at forecasts with a certain amount of cynicism borne of knowledge and experience. As a sailor, dinghy in the past and cruising now, I look at forecasts from both ends of the telescope. I am well aware that some third party forecast providers make untenable claims. It is a matter for individual judgement whether or not anyone finds my comments useful or not. I have no axe to grind, I am not a provider of forecasts.

 

[Little Dorrit]

Without wanting to raise too many eyebrows from posters above it is worth mentioning ( as Frank is too modest to do so) that there is a lot of good information here on forecasting. Like most of you I have a keen interest in forecasting and have found the above site very informative. I can concurr with Frank that some of the free forecast sites I have eg windy.com differ only slightly from the paid ones. In addition with zygrib and Opencpn (and an investment of only a few hours of time) you can achieve all you can for free and enjoy learning at the same time about different models and maps (eg. 500mb forecast maps) plus weather routing... if that's your bag.