Mercator Sailing - Rhumb Course & Distance

Mercator sailing solution - rhumb-line course and distance between two points using meridional parts, the canonical chart-work method.

MercatorRhumbSailing

Latitude 1degLongitude 1degLatitude 2degLongitude 2deg

Rhumb-line course: 43.20°T

Rhumb distance: 1,646.2nm

Changing the inputs requires JavaScript. The calculator above shows its default inputs and result. The formula, symbols, and regulatory sources are shown in the Formula section below.

Formula, assumptions, and limits

\tan C = \frac{DLo}{DMP}, \quad D = DLat \cdot \sec C

Symbol	Meaning	Unit
$DLo$	Difference of longitude	min
$DMP$	Difference of meridional parts	min
$DLat$	Difference of latitude	min

Source: Bowditch Pub.9 Ch.24

In short

Mercator sailing solution - rhumb-line course and distance between two points using meridional parts, the canonical chart-work method.

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