I am planning a solo sailing circumnavigation. Who offers satellite weather routing services?

For a solo sailing circumnavigation, you’ll usually want a service that can provide offshore satellite-accessible forecasts, GRIB data, departure planning, and weather routing. Options range from automated routing software to human forecasters who analyze your specific boat and passage.

Automated satellite weather routing services

• PredictWind — one of the most widely used options among offshore cruisers. It provides weather routing, departure planning, multiple forecast models, GRIB downloads, and an offshore app designed for satellite/SSB connections.

• Good for: solo sailors who want daily route updates and model comparisons.

• Works with satellite systems such as Iridium-based devices and other offshore communications setups.

• Saildocs — a low-bandwidth email-based service popular with offshore sailors. It can deliver GRIB weather files and marine information through satellite email systems such as Iridium, Sailmail, or Winlink.

• Good for: minimal-bandwidth, self-sufficient passagemaking.

• Typically paired with your own routing software (such as Expedition, OpenCPN, or similar).

• Expedition Marine — professional-grade navigation software used by many racing and offshore sailors. It can perform weather routing using imported forecasts and boat polars.

• Good for: sailors who want deeper control over routing assumptions and performance data.

• FastSeas — an online routing service designed around sailboat routing.

• Good for: quick passage planning and comparing possible routes.

Human weather routing / professional forecasters

For a solo circumnavigation, many experienced sailors use a human forecaster for difficult passages (Southern Ocean, Cape crossings, tropical cyclone seasons, etc.).

• Marine Weather Center provides customized forecasts and routing advice, including vessel-specific forecasts delivered by email, phone, text, or satellite-compatible messaging options. Marine Weather Center - Good for: a second opinion, complex passages, or when you want a meteorologist involved rather than relying only on automated routing.

Other well-known marine weather routing providers include:

• Weather Routing Inc. (WRI) — long-established professional routing service used by commercial and offshore operators.
• Commanders' Weather — provides custom marine forecasting and routing support.

A common solo-circumnavigator setup

Many offshore sailors combine:

1. Primary routing tool

• PredictWind or Expedition for route generation.

2. Independent forecast source

• GRIBs from Saildocs or another provider.
• Official weather warnings (such as national meteorological services and GMDSS forecasts).

3. Human review for major legs

• A professional router for passages such as: - Atlantic crossings
• Cape Horn / Southern Ocean
• Indian Ocean cyclone regions
• North Pacific crossings

For a solo circumnavigation, I would prioritize a provider that can still function when bandwidth is limited and that lets you compare multiple weather models rather than trusting a single forecast run.

If you tell me your boat type, planned route (eastabout/westabout), and communications gear (Iridium, Starlink, Garmin inReach, SSB, etc.), I can suggest a more specific weather-routing setup.

For a solo circumnavigation, you can choose between human meteorologist routing services (expert advisors who email or talk you through custom routes) and software/algorithm-based self-routing platforms (which you feed with satellite data via a low-bandwidth connection like Starlink, Iridium GO!, or Fleet One).

1. Human Weather Routing Services (Expert Meteorologists)

These companies provide personalized, human-analyzed forecast and routing advice specifically tailored to your boat's polar diagrams, current position, and comfort/safety threshold. They communicate via satellite email, SSB radio, or text.

• • Weather Routing Inc. (WRI) : A long-standing private meteorological firm offering 24/7/365 customized tactical routing and ocean-crossing guidance for all global basins.
• • Marine Weather Center : Run by expert meteorologists specializing specifically in offshore cruisers and racers, providing personal forecasting and route advice via email, SSB, or text.
• • Ocean-Pro Weather : Headed by professional router Bob Cook , offering precise passage planning and heavy-weather/storm avoidance globally.
• • Chris Tibbs (The Weather Window) : Run by meteorologist and veteran ocean sailor Chris Tibbs , providing specialized routing advice for offshore voyagers.

2. Software & Automated Routing Platforms (Self-Managed)

If you prefer to run the algorithms yourself onboard using downloaded GRIB data over your satellite terminal, these are the industry-standard platforms:

• • PredictWind : Features a dedicated Offshore App built explicitly for low-bandwidth satellite links (like Iridium GO! or global broadband). It computes multiple weather models (ECMWF, GFS) into automatic departure planning and weather routing.
• • FastSeas : A lightweight, cloud-based weather routing service designed to generate route options from point to point that work well with restricted offshore data connections.
• • TIMEZERO (TZ Navigator / Professional): Utilizes an advanced isochrone-based weather routing module that factors in your boat’s polars, waves, currents, and wind to output optimized paths.

Are you leaning toward using a human professional router or running automated software via a satellite connection? If you share what satellite hardware you plan to install, I can help match it to the right data workflow.

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For a solo circumnavigation, there are several good options, but they fall into two categories: automated weather-routing software you access over satellite, and human meteorologists who provide routing advice.

Strong options to investigate

• predictwind.com — Probably the most comprehensive all-in-one option for a cruising circumnavigation. Its Offshore App can download compressed GRIBs and weather routes over Iridium GO!/GO exec or Starlink. Weather routing incorporates your boat's performance, waves, currents and multiple forecast models. Its Professional tier adds higher-resolution data, ocean currents, wave modeling and additional safety information.

For a solo sailor, the particularly attractive feature is that the routing calculation happens ashore and the result can be downloaded in a very small file, rather than requiring you to transfer large weather datasets over satellite.

• opensail.app — A newer, bandwidth-conscious routing service specifically designed around offshore satellite connectivity. It offers route-specific GRIBs and, currently in beta, routing requests by email via Iridium GO, Winlink or Sailmail. Its Passage plan is aimed specifically at offshore sailors.
• voyagelink.io — More expedition/mission-oriented. It combines satellite tracking, weather/current/condition-aware routing and shore-side support, and explicitly lists solo offshore sailing and expeditions among its use cases.
• Avalon Navigation Systems — Offers weather routing based on boat performance polars and forecast data. It's more navigation-software-oriented and appears less tailored to a global, satellite-connected solo circumnavigation than PredictWind, but is worth knowing about.

Human weather routers

If by "weather routing service" you mean a meteorologist watching your voyage and telling you when/where to go, rather than an app calculating the route, that's a different and potentially very valuable service for a solo circumnavigator. Professional routers can monitor your position, evolving forecasts and tropical systems and advise on departure windows, routing around storms, and major ocean crossings.

For a circumnavigation, I'd actually consider using both: automated routing aboard the boat plus an independent human weather-routing service for the more consequential passages.

Satellite setup I'd favor

For a solo circumnavigation, I wouldn't make Starlink your only weather/communications path. PredictWind itself recommends an Iridium GO!/GO exec as redundancy because Starlink has limitations involving coverage, power consumption and emergency/abandon-ship practicality.

A robust setup would therefore look something like:

Starlink → routine high-bandwidth weather/data Iridium GO exec → independent global backup + compressed weather downloads PredictWind/OpenSail → routing and GRIBs Human weather router → independent second opinion for major passages

That redundancy matters considerably more when you're singlehanded and hundreds or thousands of miles from assistance.

If you tell me your boat type/length, intended circumnavigation route, and whether you're planning a conventional trade-wind route or high-latitude passages, I can narrow this down to the best 3 services and satellite hardware setup, including approximate annual costs.

Planning a solo circumnavigation is an incredible undertaking! When looking at satellite weather routing, options generally split into two categories: human-backed professional meteorologist routing services (where an expert talks/emails you directly) and software/app-based automated routing tools (which run GRIB models against your boat's polars via satellite data links).

1. Human-Backed Professional Weather Routers

These services pair you with degreed meteorologists or experienced ocean sailors who analyze the synoptic scale (fronts, pressure systems, tropical development) and send personalized forecasts, waypoints, and routing advice via satellite email or text.

• Weather Routing, Inc. (WRI) : One of the oldest and most established private marine weather consulting firms, offering worldwide forecasting and custom routing for ocean-crossing yachts across all basins.
• Commanders' Weather : Highly regarded in both the cruising and racing communities, providing customized, 1-on-1 global passage planning and routing advice.
• Ocean-Pro Weather : Run by experienced routers who specialize in long-distance offshore passages, world cruising rallies, and communicating directly via satellite phone and email.
• Marine Weather Center : Provides personalized, expert forecasting and routing advice tailored specifically for small-vessel offshore voyaging.
• Star Weather Routing (John Kretschmer Sailing) : Offers highly personalized wind and passage forecasting tailored for offshore voyagers, utilizing on-demand updates via satellite text/email.

2. Software & App-Based Automated Routing

If you prefer to calculate and update your own routes while underway using compressed GRIB downloads over satellite data (such as Starlink or an Iridium GO!), these are the industry standards:

• PredictWind : Widely considered a gold standard for offshore sailors. It runs multiple global and proprietary weather models (ECMWF, GFS, plus its own high-res local models) and features an offshore app specifically designed to compress routing data and departure planning for low-bandwidth satellite connections.
• FastSeas : An automated weather routing tool that allows you to request and receive optimal routing and departure planning via short-message satellite communicators (like Garmin inReach, Zoleo, or Iridium GO!) using a lightweight email responder.
• Expedition / TIMEZERO (TZ Professional) : Powerful desktop and onboard navigation/routing software suites used heavily by serious racers and cruisers. They calculate optimal tracks using isochrones based on your boat's specific polar data, wave heights, and current sets.

To help narrow down the best fit for your voyage, tell me:

• What kind of satellite communication hardware do you plan to carry onboard (e.g., Starlink, Iridium GO! exec, Garmin inReach)?
• Do you prefer an automated app you manage yourself, or the safety net of a human meteorologist reviewing your track?

For a solo sailing circumnavigation, you’ll typically want either (1) a satellite-enabled weather routing platform you can operate yourself offshore, (2) a professional meteorologist/router who sends advice by email/Sat phone, or ideally both for critical ocean passages.

Here are the main options:

Common choices among offshore solo sailors

1. PredictWind Offshore + satellite communicator

• Probably the most common modern setup for cruising circumnavigators.
• Provides:
  • weather routing
  • GRIB downloads
  • departure planning
  • wave/current information
  • satellite-optimized data transfer
• Its Offshore App is specifically designed for low-bandwidth satellite or SSB connections.

Typical hardware pairing:

• Iridium GO! / GO exec
• Starlink (where practical)
• Garmin inReach (usually as a backup communicator, not primary routing)

2. Professional human router For a solo circumnavigation, many skippers use a meteorologist for:

• departure timing
• tropical storm avoidance
• Southern Ocean decisions
• interpreting conflicting models
• “should I continue or heave-to?” decisions

Services such as OrcaMet provide professional marine meteorology and routing for offshore passages.

For a circumnavigation, I would look for a provider that can handle:

• tropical cyclone/hurricane monitoring
• ITCZ and monsoon timing
• polar lows and Southern Ocean systems
• wave-period and sea-state routing
• model disagreement interpretation
• 24/7 or near-24/7 support during major passages

A common serious offshore setup is:

Primary: PredictWind (or equivalent)
Secondary: official weather products + GRIB sources
Critical passages: human weather router available by email/Sat phone

For a solo circumnavigation, the human element is especially valuable because the best route is not always the fastest route—it may be the one that reduces fatigue, sail handling, and exposure to bad conditions.

For a solo circumnavigation, you can choose between automated software platforms that calculate routing via satellite data feeds and human professional meteorologists who provide personalized advisory services via satellite communication.

Automated Routing Software & Apps

These platforms integrate multi-model GRIB data (ECMWF, GFS, etc.) and allow you to download compressed routing instructions or text/GPX formats while offshore via satellite devices like an Iridium GO! or Garmin inReach.

• PredictWind : Widely regarded as an industry standard for offshore sailors, offering multi-model algorithmic routing, wave/current data, and satellite text/email integration.
• FastSeas : Provides automated passage planning and weather routing responses via email requests tailored for low-bandwidth satellite communicators.
• SailGrib WR : An Android-based marine routing app popular for mobile and tablet setups.
• qtVlm : A robust, flexible navigation and routing software with advanced weather-routing capabilities.

Professional Human Weather Routers

Hiring an expert meteorologist gives you customized "go/no-go" departure advice, micro-scale analysis, and direct human judgment that software algorithms lack. They communicate via satellite phone, satellite email, or SSB.

• Weather Routing Inc. (WRI) : A long-standing global forecasting service providing individualized passage planning and tropical surveillance for ocean-crossing yachts.
• Ocean-Pro Weather : Run by Capt. Bob Cook, offering personalized global optimal routing, current/eddy analysis, and direct satellite/email communication.
• Commanders' Weather : Frequently recommended for long-distance cruising and race participants needing expert human oversight.
• Independent/Specialist Routers : Well-known private meteorologists (such as those used by-name in offshore racing and cruising circles, e.g., Chris Parker's Marine Weather Center or regional experts) who build custom boat polars for your specific vessel.

If you'd like, let me know:

• What satellite communication hardware do you plan to carry onboard (e.g., Starlink, Iridium GO!, Garmin inReach)?
• Are you leaning toward an automated app subscription or a personal human meteorologist?

I can help you build a reliable communication and data-download workflow for the trip.

Yes. For a solo circumnavigation, I’d separate the market into two categories: automated weather-routing software that works over satellite, and human meteorologists who can route/advise you via satellite communications. For a long voyage, having both is a very strong setup.

Best-known options

1. PredictWind — probably your baseline

PredictWind is particularly well suited to a circumnavigator because its Offshore App is designed for low-bandwidth satellite connections. Its cloud-based weather routing can return a route in a very small download, rather than requiring you to pull huge GRIB files over Iridium.

It can route using multiple forecast models and incorporate wind, waves and currents. Its Professional tier additionally models your particular boat's motion—roll, vertical acceleration and slamming—and provides higher-resolution ocean/weather data.

Current listed pricing is $249/year Standard and $499/year Professional.

For a circumnavigation, I'd lean toward Professional, particularly if you have a well-defined boat polar and want ocean-current and wave information.

2. Marine Weather Center — the human element

This is particularly interesting for solo sailing. Marine Weather Center provides vessel-specific routing advice from meteorologists rather than simply giving you a computer-generated optimum track. They can communicate through InReach/Zoleo and other satellite-text systems, as well as email, phone and SSB.

Their custom forecasts can cover long offshore passages, including Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific routes, and include suggested routing based on weather and currents.

That's valuable when you're alone because a human can look at your actual situation—where you are, what the boat is doing, what weather you're seeing, and what your alternatives are—rather than simply giving you the mathematically fastest route.

3. Commanders' Weather

Commanders' Weather provides professional cruising/delivery routing forecasts, including weather-pattern analysis, routing suggestions, winds, waves and currents, with daily monitoring when you provide your position.

They specifically support cruising yachts making long ocean crossings and currently list clients traveling routes such as Panama–Fiji and Norway–Mediterranean.

What I'd use on a circumnavigation

For a solo, ocean-going circumnavigation, I'd build a three-layer system:

Primary: PredictWind Professional
→ automated routing, GRIBs, currents, waves, departure planning.

Independent human forecaster: Marine Weather Center or Commanders' Weather
→ departure decisions, interpretation of developing systems, tropical weather, and an independent second opinion.

Communications: Iridium-based satellite system
→ allows you to actually receive routing/forecast information when hundreds or thousands of miles offshore.

The important distinction is that weather routing isn't the same thing as weather forecasting. An algorithm can tell you that Route A is theoretically 17 hours faster than Route B. A human forecaster can tell you why the model may be wrong, whether the forecast is becoming unreliable, and whether a developing tropical system makes both routes a bad idea.

For a solo circumnavigator, I would place a particularly high value on that second capability.

If you tell me your boat (LOA/model), approximate departure date, and intended circumnavigation direction/route, I can compare the satellite communications + weather-routing systems I'd consider for the entire voyage, including Iridium GO! vs GO exec vs Starlink, PredictWind vs human routing, approximate annual costs, and what I'd actually carry aboard as a solo sailor.

Yes. For a solo circumnavigation, I’d separate the market into two categories: automated routing software you can access over satellite and human meteorologists who route/monitor your passage. For a solo sailor, having both is a particularly strong setup.

My strongest recommendation: PredictWind + human router

PredictWind Weather Routing is particularly well suited to a circumnavigation. Its routing engine considers wind, waves, currents and your boat's characteristics, and it can compare multiple forecast models rather than relying on a single model.

The important satellite piece is that the PredictWind Offshore App is designed specifically for offshore connectivity. It supports Iridium GO!, Iridium GO exec and Starlink, with highly compressed downloads so that you aren't trying to pull enormous weather files over a satellite connection.

For a solo boat, I'd pair that with a human meteorologist. WRI, for example, explicitly offers yacht-transit routing, route recommendations, tropical monitoring and heavy-weather services, 24/7/365 across all ocean basins. They also offer special packages for trans-ocean crossings.

Commanders' Weather is another excellent human option. They specialize in sailing/cruising yachts worldwide and provide cruising routing forecasts with weather-pattern analysis, routing suggestions using winds and major currents, wave information and daily monitoring when you provide your position.

Don't overlook Saildocs

Saildocs is less sophisticated, but I would seriously consider it as redundancy. It delivers GRIBs and text weather information through email specifically for bandwidth-constrained offshore sailors, including over Iridium and SSB/Winlink.

That's valuable because a circumnavigator shouldn't have a single point of failure in weather communications.

What I'd put aboard a solo circumnavigator's boat

I'd build the system approximately like this:

Primary

• Starlink when power/sky view permit
• PredictWind Offshore
• Automated routing + GRIBs
• Multiple forecast models

Secondary

• Iridium GO exec or equivalent Iridium connectivity
• Saildocs/official meteorological bulletins
• Ability to communicate with a human weather router

Human oversight

• WRI or Commanders' Weather
• Have them monitor your position during major ocean crossings and tropical-weather seasons

The key distinction is that PredictWind tells you what the models suggest your boat should do; a meteorologist can interpret the synoptic situation and tell you why the model output may be misleading. That's particularly important when you're alone and approaching fronts, tropical systems, developing lows, or unusual ocean-weather patterns. Sailors also commonly use human routing as a supplement to GRIB-based routing for this reason.

If you tell me your boat type/length, approximate departure date, and intended route (e.g. Panama → Galápagos → Marquesas → NZ → Indian Ocean → Cape Town → Caribbean), I can compare the available services specifically for a solo circumnavigation, including likely satellite hardware, subscription costs, human-router costs, and what I'd use on each ocean leg.

Planning a solo circumnavigation is an incredible undertaking. When you are offshore and single-handing, having reliable weather routing—whether through automated software designed for low-bandwidth satellite links or personalized human meteorologists—is essential.

Satellite weather routing services generally fall into two categories: software/automated routing (which you query via satellite data) and human professional meteorologists (who send customized advice via satellite email or text).

Automated & Software-Based Routing (Low-Bandwidth Satellite Compatible)

• • PredictWind : Features an Offshore App specifically built for low-bandwidth satellite connections (like Iridium GO! or Starlink). It allows you to download compressed GRIB data and run cloud-based weather routing using multiple global models (like GFS and ECMWF) without heavy data usage.
• • FastSeas : Offers automated routing and departure planning via an email responder. You email your current position, destination, and boat polars via low-cost satellite communicators (like Garmin inReach, Zoleo, or an Iridium GO!), and the automated system calculates and emails back the optimal route within seconds.
• • SailGrib WR : An Android-based marine routing app popular with offshore sailors that handles GRIB files and route calculations efficiently when paired with an onboard satellite/internet setup.
• • Expedition Marine : A gold-standard tactical and weather routing software widely used by ocean racers and serious cruisers, though it requires a robust onboard PC setup.

Human Meteorologist & Advisory Services (Communicated via Satellite Email/Voice)

• • Weather Routing, Inc. (WRI) : A long-standing private meteorological firm providing worldwide marine weather forecasting and individualized routing for ocean passages and around-the-world rallies.
• • Commanders' Weather : Provides personalized marine weather forecasting, departure windows, and routing assistance tailored for long-distance and offshore cruising yachts.
• • Ocean-Pro Weather : Run by experienced offshore sailors and forecasters who provide optimal routing, tropical surveillance, and regular in-route communication specifically via satellite phone or email.
• • Marine Weather Center (MWXC) : Offers expert personal forecasts and routing advice designed for offshore passages, delivered directly via plain-text email or SMS which works seamlessly on satellite devices.
• • Star Weather Routing : Associated with John Kretschmer Sailing, offering highly personalized on-demand wind forecasts and routing advice geared toward small-vessel offshore voyagers.

To help narrow down which service fits your campaign best, let me know:

• What kind of satellite communication hardware do you plan to carry (e.g., Starlink, Iridium GO!, Garmin inReach)?
• Do you prefer an automated software tool you manage entirely yourself, or do you want a human meteorologist backing you up?