What is the speed that you can expect to...

Question 1 of 29218fork_55a76dd5ebb74e6a8ae

What is the speed that you can expect to make good, while steering to make good your desired course?

Question 1 of 29218

What is the speed that you can expect to make good, while steering to make good your desired course?

🔍 Key Concepts

• Difference between speed through the water and speed made good (SMG) over the ground • Effect of set and drift of current on your actual track and speed • Using vectors on a current triangle (ship’s vector, current vector, and course made good vector)

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: am I being asked for the engine/through‑the‑water speed, or the actual speed along my intended track over the ground? • Think about how the current’s direction (with you, against you, or on the beam) will change your speed made good compared to your log speed. • If you had already drawn the current triangle to get the steering course to make good the desired course, how would you now read the length of the course‑made‑good vector to find the speed made good?

✅ Before You Answer

• Confirm you are using the course made good vector, not the ship’s through‑the‑water vector, to read the speed. • Check the scale you used on the plotting sheet (e.g., 1 knot = 1 nm/hour on the vector) before converting back to knots. • Verify whether the current is helping or opposing your motion along the desired course so you know if SMG should be higher or lower than your through‑the‑water speed.