Marine electronics equipment manufacturer Raymarine has launched Lighthouse 4.5, the latest update to its Lighthouse operating system for Axiom chartplotters.

The firm, which is embracing automated opportunities in the market, says the Lighthouse 4.5 update is ‘packed full of sophisticated new sailing features’ designed to work with the company’s DAME award-winning Alpha Series displays, Smart Wind Technology and RSW Series Wind sensors.

Designed to enhance skippers’ understanding of their surrounding environment, the new LightHouse 4.5’s sailing features include Steer to Wind from Axiom, Automatic Speed Calibration, Wind Shift Indicators, Sail Recommendations and an enhanced Sailing Simulator.

Raymarine says the Steer to Wind from Axiom feature uses Axiom’s built-in autopilot controls to offer two new sailing steering options: Steer to Wind Angle (which holds the boat at the preferred angle to the wind, using live data from the boat’s wind transducer) and Steer to Target Angle (which holds the boat at the target angle to the wind, based on the polar information uploaded into Axiom).

LightHouse 4.5’s Automatic Speed Calibration is the firm’s patented algorithm that helps remove the tack-to-tack, heel and linearity errors in a speed transducer. Raymarine says this ensures skippers always get good True Wind data.

The update’s new Wind Shift Indicators are available as a horizontal bar display on the chart, or as sidebar data, floating data or as a dashboard data item. Linked to the value found in the laylines settings in the Chart app and with adjustable averaging time, the information is broadcast across the network to all Alpha instruments.

The new Sail Recommendations feature also allows skippers to import a sail plan and let Axiom make automatic recommendations based on the wind conditions (eg: which jib to set and whether to add a reef or two). Developed for cruising catamarans, charter boats, boat clubs and other situations where an inexperienced captain might benefit from advice on sail selection and reefing, the recommendations appear as a programmable data item and exceeding the recommended limits prompts an on-screen warning.

Enhancements to LightHouse’s sailing simulator mean the simulated wind now always blows from the same direction and the simulated boat now automatically follows the laylines. There is now a single Tack Boat command to execute a tack manoeuvre and data is now synchronised to show the integration across the Chart app, Dashboard app and connected Alpha displays with realistic values.

In October 2023, Raymarine extended its LightHouse Charts to encompass the coastal and inshore waters of Belgium and the Netherlands.

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