15 Year Old Sailor Releases New Weather Forecasting Book

[OliverPerkins]

Hi, I am 15 years old and I sail in the British Youth Laser 4.7 Sailing Team and I have used the knowledge gained from my sailing to released my first book which is about forecasting the weather using the clouds. My book is called 'The Message of the Clouds'. My book contains over 70 cloud photos and it explains what weather different clouds indicate. It will enable you to forecast the weather yourself as well as explaining why these clouds happen. This information is very useful for sailing as not only can it save you from being stuck in a storm it can also speed up passage times as my book has a large section on the wind.

I hope you don't mind me telling you about it, but I really think that it would be of interest to this group and may even help people to do better in sailing competitions. On top of this it should help you when you are off the water, as among other things it should eliminate the chance of picnics in the rain.

You can find out more about my book here:
The Message of the Clouds Book — Oliver Perkins Author and Journalist

My book was also fact checked by Christopher Collier (Ex-president of the Royal Meteorological Society) who also said this about my book "This book is well-researched and the reader is offered practical information in an easy to assimilate form."

Also Tom Cunliffe wrote the foreword to my book and he also said this about it "It is so good that my Yachtmaster Instructor Candidates would do well to read it."

Olly

[Malabarista]

Bump. I am very interested in buying your book but am unable to source a copy. Where may i find a copy?

[boatman61]

Good one Olly.. been telling folks here about this for years but.. they just keep babbling on about Grib files..

[Malabarista]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Good one Olly.. been telling folks here about this for years but.. they just keep babbling on about Grib files..

Almost asked a muppet question. Hope no one saw it…

[Pete7]

You know what I would rather give him my £5 towards his sailing with the national laser squad than that couple that who ran aground and still haven't recovered that boat.

I hope he does well from this and I have pre-ordered my copy

[AB808]

Good on you Olly. This looks to be a handy & fun reference. I’ve preordered a few. Good luck in your sailboat racing. Aloha [emoji41]

[robert sailor]

Good on you Oily...Some knowledge never changes. For those of us raised on barometric pressure and cloud formations your preaching to the converted.

[JPA Cate]

Hello, Olly,

Welcome aboard CF.

Good luck with the Laser sailing and the book sales. And good on you -- in this age of electronic media and reliance on other meteorologists than oneself -- for trying to show how mariners can use the messages in the clouds to guide their travels.

Ann

[Dave_S]

Good job Olly, ordered my digital copy today.

I hope it works upsidedown in the southern hemisphere.

[OliverPerkins]

Originally Posted by Malabarista

Bump. I am very interested in buying your book but am unable to source a copy. Where may i find a copy?

Hi Malabarista,

Sorry for taking so long to get back, I have been extremely busy with my GCSE's - I have my french one in less than a week!

You can preorder a copy on my website, or if you message me or email me directly ollyperkins2@gmail.com I might be able to get you a copy.

[OliverPerkins]

Originally Posted by Pete7

You know what I would rather give him my £5 towards his sailing with the national laser squad than that couple that who ran aground and still haven't recovered that boat.

I hope he does well from this and I have pre-ordered my copy

Thanks Pete, that is very kind of you, I hope you will enjoy the book when it is ready.

[OliverPerkins]

Originally Posted by AB808

Good on you Olly. This looks to be a handy & fun reference. I’ve preordered a few. Good luck in your sailboat racing. Aloha [emoji41]

WOW, that is so kind of you - This posts explains where I have been getting all of the preorders from!

[OliverPerkins]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Good job Olly, ordered my digital copy today.

I hope it works upsidedown in the southern hemisphere.

Thanks Dave!

Don't worry, it works fine in the Southern Hemisphere - there are a couple of things that are different, but I mention it in the book!

(You just have to remember to think of the opposite when I say that the wind will veer or back and you have to mix up your lefts and rights occasionally, but it isn't anything major!)

[hellosailor]

In the 1960's the Lionel (train/hobby company) folks released a series of "science" toys. One being a weather kit that had a build-it-yourself drum barometer and a cloud photograph chart that still appears in various places today. Emphasis on simple things like a sling psychrometer, the barometer, and the cloud chart for forecasting.

It is good to see that everything that's old is new again. Reading the clouds is still something that every sailor should be doing, constantly, as part of situational awareness. Having a contemporary digital resource for this is a nice idea.

If I recall correctly, several new [sic] cloud types were formally named and recognized last year as well.

[OliverPerkins]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

In the 1960's the Lionel (train/hobby company) folks released a series of "science" toys. One being a weather kit that had a build-it-yourself drum barometer and a cloud photograph chart that still appears in various places today. Emphasis on simple things like a sling psychrometer, the barometer, and the cloud chart for forecasting.

It is good to see that everything that's old is new again. Reading the clouds is still something that every sailor should be doing, constantly, as part of situational awareness. Having a contemporary digital resource for this is a nice idea.

If I recall correctly, several new [sic] cloud types were formally named and recognized last year as well.

Yes, I think that there was a new cloud formally named, although I don't really go into that in my book as the new cloud is quite rare and isn't particularly useful for forecasting the weather - I try to stick to the information that you need!

I had a DIY weather station thing years ago which was quite fun, but I think it got destroyed by a badger or a fox quite quickly!