Book of the Week- 'Cornell's Ocean Atlas' new from Jimmy Cornell

by Nancy Knudsen on 23 Dec 2011 Every book that Jimmy Cornell has published - and there have been thirteen of them - has been highly relevant, superbly presented, and most importantly, 100% accurate. We anticipate that Cornell's latest production, a large format full colour 'Ocean Atlas' will be no different.

My copy has just arrived on my desk and it certainly eclipses all his other productions with its 'wow factor'. I am sure it will become, like his 'World Cruising Routes', a publication no long-range sailor wants to leave home without.

Founder of the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, noonsite.com, and author most famous for his sailor's bible 'World Cruising Routes', Jimmy is already the world's most respected author for long-distance sailors. Now he has teamed up with his son Ivan to produce 'Cornell's Ocean Atlas', an atlas of 129 up-to-date pilot charts aimed at sailors planning offshore voyages. The charts in Cornell’s Ocean Atlas are based on the most recent weather data gathered by meteorological satellites over the last twenty years.

Sixty monthly pilot charts of all oceans for the world show wind speed and direction, current speed and direction, approximate extent of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, the most common tracks of tropical storms, and the mean location of high pressure cells for each hemisphere.

Sixty-nine detailed charts of the most commonly sailed transoceanic routes make it easier for cruising sailors to plan a route that takes best advantage of the prevailing weather conditions at that time of year. Sidebars with tactical suggestions have been added to the months when most passages are undertaken. The comments and tips on tactics, as well as weather overviews for each ocean, were contributed by meteorologists and routers specializing in those oceanic areas.

Availability:
Europe and other parts of the world: Cornell’s Ocean Atlas, in German, French and Italian as well as English, is available now by http://www.cornellsailing.com/buy-order-cornell-atlas-edition-english-edition/!clicking_here.

America:It will be available in the US in January 2012 from Cornell Sailing (www.cornellsailing.com), and at Sail America’s Strictly Sail boat shows in Chicago in January, Miami in February, and Oakland, CA in April, 2012. The atlas will be officially launched at Strictly Sail Chicago in January where Jimmy Cornell will offer his popular Long Distance Cruising Seminar plus shorter seminars on a broad range of cruising topics. The Atlas is also produced in German, French and Italian editions.

Why a pilot chart?
Pilot charts, also referred to as routing charts, have been the most important passage planning tool since the middle of the nineteenth century. The first systematic study of ships' sailing routes, and the weather conditions that affect them, was undertaken in the 19th century by Lieutenant Maury of the US Navy with the aid of shipmasters’ logbooks.

Much of the information contained in the pilot charts that are in use today is still based on those observations and, although they have been updated at regular intervals, the scarcity of reliable sources, inaccuracy of the observations, or the climate changes that have occurred over the years, have rendered some of the information shown on those charts to be now inaccurate.

To present as true a picture as possible of the actual conditions which prevail in today’s oceans, the charts in Cornell’s Ocean Atlas are based on extensive data collected by meteorological satellites from 1987 to the present. This data was processed by Ivan Cornell, whose programming experience has made both noonsite.com and this atlas possible.

The excellence of this product:
It is not only Sail-World Cruising that is impressed. Other sailors who have consulted advance copies of the atlas are describing it as ground-breaking for its content, but also for its organization and layout, which reflect Jimmy Cornell’s world voyaging experience. The scale and range of charts are carefully chosen so that sailors can see all the relevant information and plan their passages on a single chart.

As one world cruiser stated, on seeing the format and detail of the atlas, 'This is a game-changer. It should be hidden
away and kept a secret so that it is as hard for future cruisers as it was for us.'

As Jimmy Cornell says, 'Our main objective has been to create the kind of publication we would have greatly appreciated if it had been available when we sailed on any of the five circumnavigations of the globe which we share between us.'

About the authors:
Jimmy Cornell has sailed 200,000 miles in all oceans of the world including three circumnavigations as well as voyages to Antarctica and Alaska. As the founder of the successful ARC transatlantic rally, Jimmy Cornell is credited with having devised the offshore cruising rally concept. Thousands of sailors have fulfilled their dream of blue water sailing with the help of his books, among them the bestseller World Cruising Routes. While working on his next book
World Voyage Planner, to be published in 2012, he asked Ivan’s help in producing up-to-date pilot charts to illustrate the voyages described in the book. This atlas is the result of their cooperation.

Ivan Cornell spent most of his childhood at sea and completed his first circumnavigation with his father by the time he was eleven. As an adult he has sailed thousands of miles as crew or skipper on a variety of boats in all oceans including two voyages to Antarctica. He has a degree in computer science from University College London and has worked for the last twenty years in the film industry. Ivan applied his considerable skills as a programmer in constructing the website noonsite.com, the global source of information for cruising sailors. This atlas is the result of an ambitious program he wrote to process the data obtained by a network of meteorological satellites. Ivan’s passion for the sea has never left him and he is currently sailing yacht he built himself.

Fast Facts:
NEW PILOT CHARTS FOR ALL OCEANS OF THE WORLD
Cornell’s Ocean Atlas
By Jimmy and Ivan Cornell
Publisher: Cornell Sailing Ltd.
List price: $99.95 (USA) £69 (Europe), plus shipping
ISBN: 978-0-9556396-5-4
Spiral-bound: 120 pages, color
Dimensions: 16.5 x 11.75 inches
Other editions:
German, French, Italian