What software is available to drawing different rule situations? I would like be able to discuss the rules and different scenarios at a radio control club. John Ball has great written some great articles which I have used.
What makes a lot of online diagramming tools unusable is a lack of by-the-lee support. As soon as a boat goes one degree past DDW, they automatically jibe. This isn't how our most popular classes (Optis and ILCAs) work, as one can sail well past BTL without jibing, and often do as part of their optimal speed technique.
However, SailTalks.com lets you set your boat's jibe angle -- e.g., one degree for a sloop (main and jib) or 30 degrees for a cat boat (mainsail only). Plus a bunch of other features like animated diagrams, saved scenarios, link sharing, live collaboration, etc.
Al - All of the programs mentioned allow you to manually set the sail angle so that you can set them for sailing by the lee. This also allows you to show the sails luffing when appropriate.
For my articles I use boats.exe program which you may download for free from https://boats.sourceforge.net/
You may also find my quick 'how to use' article on my web site at the bottom of the home page under my Appendix A How to create diagrams.
To find my site, google Johns RC sailing rules and tactics
John
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However, SailTalks.com lets you set your boat's jibe angle -- e.g., one degree for a sloop (main and jib) or 30 degrees for a cat boat (mainsail only). Plus a bunch of other features like animated diagrams, saved scenarios, link sharing, live collaboration, etc.