The Analysis Page
The addition of Data Analysis is where the big change from Version 2 has taken place. With Version 3 you have two main analysis options. You can either look at the data from one entry (boat) or from the entire profile.
The Data Analysis screen is opened from the the 3D simulation window by selecting the Analysis menu item and then either selecting the Analyze (boat name) or Entire Profile. If you select the entire profile and there are several boats defined in the profile it may take several seconds to generate and open the analysis window. The boat name shown on the menu is based on the boat selected in the simulation view. If no boat is selected this option will be unavailable.
Other than the size of the dataset the only real difference between analyzing the entire profile versus a single boat is when analyzing the entire profile you can compare one boat to another. Keep in mind that with a large profile (many boats defined with large datasets each) performance won't be as fast as when you analyze a single boat entry.
The screen shot below shows the Analysis screen when it first opens. The 10 boat test file is being used for this example. Clicking the picture will open a full sized view
Filtering the Dataset
You select the data you want to plot by selecting it from drop down menus and setting maximum and minimum values. Below is a close up view of the left side of the screen showing the data filtering area.
Setting the X-Axis
In the top portion of the data filtering section you set the X-Axis. In the drop down you select what data should be used to define the X-axis and then select a maximum and minimum value for the data. The max and min values are automatically set to the extents in the data being analyzed and you can't enter values outside the range of the dataset.
Setting the Y-Axis (Data Series)
Setting the values to display along the Y-Axis is similar to setting the X-Axis. The only difference here is that you can select the boat as well as the Series. If you are only analyzing one boat the drop down is set to the boat and you can change it.
You can select up to three series to plot at any given time.
Additional Data Filters
In addition to the X and Y-Axis you can also define two additional data filters. For instance if you only want to look at True Wind Speeds(TWS) between 10 and 15 knots you would set that here. You can either 'AND' these filters together or 'OR' them.
Plotting
Once you've defined the dataset clicking the 'Plot' button generates the plat. You can re-define the dataset and re-plot repeatedly.
Below is an example of a 3D plot showing the SOG (speed over ground) for Occam between a timestamp of 1200 and 2000 seconds.
Other Chart Types
You can select different chart types from the 'Chart Types' menu item. You can select Line, Polar, Scatter and Spline chart types. Under Polar you can select to chart using lines, points or an area.
Below is a Polar::Point chart of the SOG vs. AWA (apparent wind angle) for SOG above 3 knots, TWS between 5 and 10 knots and a Roll (heel) angle between -20 and 20 degrees. If you look carefully this plot shows that we seem to be faster on a starboard tack...
Data Summary
On the Analysis Toolbar there is a 'Data Summary' menu item. Clicking this will open a window showing you some statistics about the data collected. Below is a screen shot of a summary.
Additional Chart Tools and Features
From the toolbar in the chart area you can save, print, preview, change the color palette, toggle between 2D and 3D charts and turn the legends on or off.
In addition to the chart toolbar you can interactively zoom-in on a subset of the data by a left click and hold the of the mouse and dragging over a section of the chart. The chart will re-size to show only that area. You can then use the sliders to re-position the view or hit 'ESC' to reset the view to show all the data.
There are literally hundreds of ways to look at the data you collect. With the ability to save the plots you can create reports for any given race or tuning session print them and take them out the next time you tune. With that information in hand you can objectively evaluate the changes to the rig and sail trim to hopefully re-enforce the 'seat-of-the-pants' evaluation. It's helped us...