"One of the biggest struggles is to get the instrument calibration right," he said. "We have what is called a log book and I have been using it to record, when we have been racing, our data that we get out of the instruments."

The navigator then builds up a set of polar tables, which shows the best performance of the yacht in different wind angles and speeds. The system will take any data given to it from these polar tables and analyse it against the weather data to provide the fastest route for the boat.

"I can do a run line course from one point to another and ask the computer to calculate over a period of time, say three days, the optimum course," he explained.

The system can be set up to provide route updates as often as required -- an update every 15 minutes for example, would provide the crew with a high-resolution plan and plenty of activity.

The navigator can see where the yacht should be at particular times and then make progressive decisions on where to head based on the data sets they have gathered.