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Mercator Sailing - Rhumb Course & Distance

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

Formula

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

Symbol legend

SymbolMeaningUnitSource
$DLo$Difference of longitudeminlon2 − lon1
$DMP$Difference of meridional partsminmeridional parts formula
$DLat$Difference of latitudeminlat2 − lat1

Sources

  • Bowditch Pub.9 Ch.24.