Compare All Modes
Four routes solved. One recommended. Reasons attached.
Route optimizers hand you options and leave the judgment to you: four tracks, a table of numbers, and a decision you make at the dock with the crew watching. OpenSail solves all four routing modes against the same forecast, then the Intelligence Layer reads the numbers and commits to one — with the trade-offs that justify it written out in plain language.
A decision, not a data dump
The panel on the right is the real interface, frozen at one moment of one Gulf Stream crossing. Fastest gets across in 24.9 hours and pays in heel. Family waits out the front, crosses behind it, and arrives 2.6 hours later with the comfort score up 2.3 points. Comfort+ adds another 48 minutes and buys almost nothing. The briefing weighs all of it and picks family — then shows its work, mode by mode.
The part that builds trust: every claim traces to a number in your solved routes.The briefing is generated from the durations, comfort scores, heel, and gusts of the four solves — never from weather it wasn't handed. If the narrative says Thursday's front clears the Stream by midnight, that came out of your route's own timeline, and the comparison table above the panel lets you check it.
And when the modes converge — as they often do in settled weather — the briefing says there is no trade to make, instead of inventing one. A recommendation you can trust is one that knows when the choice doesn't matter.
Take Family — 2.6 extra hours buy 2.3 comfort points and halve the max heel on the Stream crossing.
All four modes sail Ft. Lauderdale → Freeport against the same forecast: an 18–22 kt northeaster easing overnight as the front clears the Stream. Fastest and balanced cross the axis at peak gradient and pay for it in heel; family and comfort_plus delay the crossing about three hours and meet 1.1 m seas instead of 1.9 m. Comfort_plus offers almost nothing beyond family here — 48 minutes for 0.2 points — so the honest pick is family: the calmest crossing of the set at a cost the crew will never notice.
- Fastest24.9 h and heel to 21° — quickest across, but you wear every knot of the northeaster on the Stream axis.
- Balanced25.3 h, comfort 6.8 — shaves the worst heel for 24 extra minutes, still crosses the axis at peak gradient.
- Family27.5 h, comfort 8.4, heel to 10° — waits out the front and crosses behind it. The pick.
- Comfort+28.3 h for comfort 8.6 — 48 more minutes buy 0.2 points beyond Family. Not worth the trade tonight.
Briefing generated from the four solved routes — planning aid only, not for navigation.
How it works
1. Four complete solves
Fastest, balanced, family, and comfort+ each run as a full isochrone solve with its own comfort weighting — same forecast, same boat, same draft. Four real routes, not one route restyled four ways.
2. The Intelligence Layer reads the numbers
Durations, comfort scores, max heel, wind and seas, notable events per track — the briefing is built from your solved routes and nothing else, so every sentence can be checked against the table.
3. One recommendation that commits
A single pick with the trade written out — and a one-tap button that loads the recommended route onto the chart. When the modes tie, it says so instead of manufacturing a difference.
What it does not do
Honest limitations
- It is a planning aid, not a navigator. The briefing summarizes your solved routes to help you decide at the dock; it is not for navigation underway, and your seamanship overrules it.
- It inherits the forecast's errors. The briefing reads the solves, and the solves read the models — before committing, check the recommended route against model agreement.
- It compares the four modes for the departure you gave it. Whether a different leaving time beats all four is the departure planner's question — the two work best together.
Frequently asked questions
What does Compare All Modes actually do?
It solves your passage four separate times — fastest, balanced, family, and comfort+ — against the same forecast, with your vessel's polar and draft. Each mode is a complete isochrone solve with its own comfort weighting, not a re-styled copy of one route. You get all four tracks on the chart, a side-by-side table, and a briefing that recommends one.
How is the recommendation generated?
The Intelligence Layer reads the four solved routes — durations, distances, comfort scores, max heel, max wind and seas, and any notable events along each track — and weighs the trade-offs in plain language. It works only from your solved numbers; it never invents weather or conditions it wasn't handed, and every claim in the briefing can be checked against the comparison table above it.
What if the modes come out nearly identical?
Then the briefing says exactly that. In settled conditions all four solvers often converge on the same track, and the honest answer is "there's no trade to make — take balanced." A recommendation engine that manufactures drama where the numbers show none is one you'd learn to ignore; this one tells you when the choice doesn't matter.
I always sail the same mode. Why compare?
Because the cost of comfort changes with the weather. In a gale, family mode might add half a day; in a settled gradient it can be free. Comparing all four shows you the current price of the route you prefer — and sometimes reveals that a faster mode is just as kind this week, or that comfort+ buys nothing beyond family tonight.
Which plan includes Compare All Modes?
Compare All Modes and the Intelligence Layer briefings are part of the Voyager plan, along with all four comfort modes and the departure planner. The free tier includes fastest-mode routing so you can try the solver itself first.
Keep exploring
Stop decoding tables at the dock
Solve all four modes, read one recommendation with its reasoning shown, and load the winning route in a tap.
Compare your routes