You are underway on course 050° T and your...

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Question 1 of 2066636ee928f7522a1c51a4c4

You are underway on course 050° T and your maximum speed is 10 knots. The eye of a hurricane bears 100° T, 90 miles from your position. The hurricane is moving towards 285° T at 19 knots. Which course should you steer at 10 knots to have the maximum CPA?

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Question 1 of 20

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🔍 Key Concepts

• Relative motion in tropical cyclone avoidance – think of the hurricane as another moving vessel and use vector addition of motions. • Dangerous semicircle vs. navigable semicircle – where are you relative to the storm’s direction of movement (285° T)? • Course for maximum CPA – you want the relative motion line between you and the storm to be as “sideways” as possible, not pointing toward each other.

💭 Think About

• First sketch the storm’s track: it’s moving 285° T at 19 knots. Draw YOUR possible course and speed (10 knots) from the same origin and think of this as a relative motion/vector problem. How does changing your course change the relative velocity between you and the storm’s center? • Compare your present bearing FROM the vessel TO the storm (100° T) with the storm’s direction of travel (285° T). Are you on the right-hand (dangerous) side or left-hand (navigable) side of the storm’s path? On which side do mariners usually try to keep a hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere? • For each answer choice, imagine the combined (relative) motion line between you and the hurricane. Which course makes that line trend most nearly away from the storm’s center over time, rather than cutting across its path or moving toward it?

✅ Before You Answer

• Carefully note that YOUR maximum speed is 10 knots while the hurricane’s speed is 19 knots. You cannot outrun it; you can only change the geometry (CPA). • Check the initial bearing from you to the eye (100° T) against the storm’s track (285° T). Where will the storm move relative to your current position if you do nothing? • For each candidate course, visualize whether your motion vector (10 kn) combined with the storm’s motion vector (19 kn toward 285° T) makes the line of relative motion pass closer to or farther from the storm center. Eliminate any course that clearly drives you more “into” the storm’s track.

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