Polar Generation

[bbhflts]

I'm looking for a recommendation for the best software for my situation to generate a polar.

Caveats. I'm not interested in conspiracy theories of how polars are used for marketing, wildly optimistic, usless depending on sea state etc..

Often I don't have another boat to compare our speed with when race training or in fact the right information to compare our historical best for the conditions. This is where a polar generated from real life is fantastic. I intend to run the generation each time we go out so when we hit a new "personal best" for the same basic conditions, we can take note of the settings and really start to understand the optimal trim and settings for the boat.

I'm well aware that there is a hell of a lot of software out there that is fully capable of doing this. The issue is I want to find an app that doesn't require the processing power of an IBM super computer. I have Expedition but it is like using a freight train to align a mirror for this purpose.

The boat is not our normal cruiser, it's a small sports boat with minimal batteries. Full Tacktick sytem (Race Master, Hull transponder with log, temp and depth, anamometer) which is linked via an NMEA interface to a Garmin GPS. The NMEA info is fed into a WLN-10. For those new to the WLN-10, it's an awesome bit of kit that takes NMEA and punches it out over WiFi. The processing power to run the software is a cheap netbook with a WiFi connection. We also have the option of running a tablet with WiFi, however the point is neither a netbook nor a tablet have a lot of battery nor processing power. Hence I'm after a slimline but very accurate sw package. Running Expedition is not an option due to the resource hog.

One additional thought is that there are two options. 1. Running a sw app on a windows operating system. 2. Perhaps someone has built an iPad app that does this utilising the built in GPS of the iPad, but still capable of receiving the NMEA via WiFi. Optimistic I know.....

Appreciate your thoughts and experiences.

Cheers.

Ben.

[bbhflts]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I'm familiar with iRegatta for the iPhone/iPad. The issue is its polar doesn't allow you to build it up over time, export the data and then smooth the curves (to my knowledge).

[colemj]

At one time, Nobeltec had a sailing add on package to their software that constantly monitored all ships data and created polars out of it. All you had to do was go sailing while the software was running. I don't know if they still have this functionality.

Mark