Raymarine upgrades LightHouse II OS with new sailing features
by Claire Hammon 4 Jun 2015 09:33 BST
4 June 2015
Raymarine LightHouse II R14 Operating System © Raymarine
Free update gives club racers and performance sailors advanced visual sailing tools
FLIR Systems, Inc. announced the release of the latest update to its acclaimed LightHouse II operating system for Raymarine multifunction displays (MFDs), with advanced features designed specifically for sailboats. LightHouse II Release 14 offers multiple tools to help sailors determine the quickest, most efficient ways to navigate while racing or cruising. The free update is available for aSeries, cSeries, eSeries, gS Series, and the new eS Series line of high performance MFDs.
Lighthouse II Release 14 includes the following new features for sailors:
- LightHouse QuickCourse™ lets skippers accurately and quickly display a new race course based upon pre-entered race mark identification codes.
- LightHouse SmartMarks™ visual waypoint rounding indicators provide clear visual cues for rounding buoys in a port or starboard direction, as defined by the race committee.
- Virtual start line shows the position of the boat relative to the starting line, using latitude/longitude positions, waypoints, and marks.
- Three layline modes enable sailors to best judge when to tack to make the mark. The modes include mirrored true wind angle (TWA), user-selectable fixed angle, and polar data mode, which enables customized laylines to be displayed based on the vessel's individual hull design. Effects of wind and tide can also be added to get a complete picture.
- On screen LightHouse race timer visually assists racers in the countdown schedule
to the start.
In addition to the advanced sailing tools feature set, LightHouse II Release 14 also offers enhancements for cruisers and fishermen. Those new features include:
- Support for C-MAP by Jeppesen Easy Routing when using C-MAP 4D MAX+ charts.
- New sonar digital surface filters and enhanced automatic controls when using the new CP370, CP470, or CP570 sonar modules.
- Enhanced Fusion audio integration with support for NMEA 2000 connectivity to Fusion marine stereos.
"With the latest release of LightHouse II, we developed our advanced sailing tools to make navigating under sail even easier," said Grégoire Outters, Vice President and General Manager of FLIR Maritime. "Cruisers can sail smarter and racers can now get the winning edge by using our exclusive on-screen visual aids to make better tactical decisions."
LightHouse II Release 14 is available in the form of a free download on raymarine.com.