What does VMG mean in yachting?

Velocity Made Good
VMG stands for ‘Velocity Made Good’. In simple terms, it measures the progress made towards the destination. The concept is useful because a sailboat often cannot, or should not, sail directly to a mark to reach it as quickly as possible. Yachts cannot sail directly upwind.

What is Garmin VMG?

VMG: Velocity Made Good (VMG) Waypoint VMG: A measurement of how fast a vessel is traveling, either toward or away from an active waypoint. Wind VMG: A measurement of how fast a vessel is moving, either toward the wind or away from where the wind is coming from.

How is VMG calculated?

I plugged the numbers into this formula: (Boat speed at 8 degrees above dead downwind) x COS (the degrees above dead downwind) = VMG: 4.2 x COS (8) = 4.16 (VMG) (Boatspeed at 30 degrees above dead downwind) x COS (30) = VMG: 5.2 x COS (30) = 4.5 (VMG). Depending on your boat, this will happen between 7 to 11 knots.

What is TWS and VMG?

TWS True Wind Speed. VMC Velocity Made Good (to Waypoint, course) VMG Velocity Made Good (to Wind)

Do You Always sail at your best VMG?

Realize that it’s your average VMG that matters. You won’t always sail at your best VMG: sometimes you will pinch or foot, or even sail on a header to get to a favorable shift or puff. But if you find that favorable shift or puff, it will greatly increase your VMG.

Which is the best boat with the highest VMG?

Therefore, if you’re sailing windward/leeward courses, the boat that has the highest average VMG wins the race. It’s that simple. If this puzzles you, go back and review our post on ladder rungs. If the course is a reach, then VMG doesn’t matter – it’s straight line boat speed that matters.

How does VMG affect the speed of a boat?

At the optimum boat speed and angle to the wind, VMG is maximized, steering closer to the direction of the wind will reduce boat speed, while steering further away from the direction of the wind might give a higher boat speed, but at the cost of a larger deviation in heading, so less progress towards a mark.

Do you have to measure wind speed to calculate VMG?

Measurement of wind speed and direction, in addition to boat speed and heading, is required to calculate a real VMG reading. If a mark is exactly currently in the direction of the wind, VMC will be the same as VMG.