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Old 12-18-2012, 02:08 PM   #9
FlyWright
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City: California Delta
Vessel Name: FlyWright
Vessel Model: 1977 Marshall Californian 34 LRC
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 13,728
I believe Marin is right and I'll attempt to prove it mathematically.

Imagine cruising a 2 NM course, round trip at 6 kts with no current. Each leg will take 20 minutes (2/6=.333x60=:20) for a :40 round trip.

Now cruise the same course with 2 kts of current with you and against you. Leg 1 is into the current yielding a 4 kt speed over 2 miles and it takes you 30 minutes. (2/4=.5x60=:30)
Leg 2 is completed at 8 kts with the push from the current and takes you 15 minutes.(2/8=.25x60=:15) Adding leg 1 and 2 is :30+:15=:45.

The same course traveled with the 2 kt current took 5 minutes longer. The reason is that when the current is helping you, you have less time to benefit from it. When it slowing you down, the effect of the current hits you over a longer span of time.

That's this engineer's take on it anyway.
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