Offshore racing routing software in 2026

by Stuart Greenfield, Yacht Racing Performance Coach
For offshore racers, routing software has moved a long way from being a glorified GRIB viewer with a few colored arrows on a screen. The serious systems now sit at the intersection of weather modelling, polar management, instrument integration, tide and current modelling, charting, performance analysis and, increasingly, artificial intelligence.

What has changed most in the last 12 to 18 months is not that software has suddenly become magical, but that the quality, variety, and speed of forecast inputs are improving fast.

AI-based forecast models such as ECMWF’s AIFS are now operational, and marine platforms such as PredictWind and Expedition are already exposing users to AI-derived or AI-enhanced forecast products alongside conventional physics-based models. PredictWind has also gone a step further with AI-generated polars, using real sailing data to refine boat performance assumptions over time.

The danger with modern routing software is that it is so convincing even when the assumptions underneath it are wrong. – Full report