Chapter 6

Great Circle sailing

Introduction
You have learnt that the great circle is the shortest line on the surface of
the earth. However in order to navigate on such great circle it becomes
necessary to calculate the various parameters such as initial and final
course and the most convenient way point.
Great circle sailing involves the solution of courses, distances, and
way points along the great circle.
Composite Great Circle Sailing
Although the great circle (GC) track is the shortest route between two
locations, it also usually takes the navigator closer to the pole (or to
higher latitude) than the two places. See sketch below comparing the
routes taken by a rhumb line track, GC track and an intermediate
composite track.

Fig: Comparison of a RL, GC and Composite tracks

To avoid the danger of steaming on high latitude, which is normally

associated with bad weather and icing, a careful navigator will normally
set a latitude limit on his ocean passage plan. The ocean passage will
thus consist of a first great circle track with vertex at the latitude limit
then sailing along that latitude until meeting the vertex of a second great
circle track leading to the destination. This type of route is named as
composite great circle route. In other words Composite sailing is a

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 modification of great-circle sailing to limit the maximum latitude,
generally to avoid ice or severe weather near the poles.

A great circle is:

 The surface of a sphere of a plane passing through the center of the
sphere.
 It is the largest circle that can be drawn on the surface of the sphere,
and is the shortest distance along the surface between any two points.
 Any two points on the earth are connected by only one great circle.
Unless the points are 180 apart on the earth, then an infinite number
of great circles pass through them.
 Except for the equator which is also a great circle, every great circle lies
exactly half in the Northern Hemisphere and half in the Southern
Hemisphere.

 Any two points 180 apart on a great circle have the same latitude
numerically, but with contrary names, and are 180 apart also in
longitude.
 The point of greatest latitude is called the vertex. For each great circle,
there is a vertex in each hemisphere, 180 apart in longitude. At these
vertices the great circle is tangent to a parallel of latitude, and its
direction is due east -west. On each side of these vertices the direction
changes progressively until the intersection with the equator is reached.
 When a vessel proceeds along a Great circle it is termed Great circle
sailing.
 The arc of the great circle between the points is called the great circle
track.
 The great circle track between two positions in the same hemisphere
will curve towards the pole of that hemisphere.
 The great circle track from a position in one hemisphere to a position in
the other hemisphere will curve towards the pole of the hemisphere in
which the position with the higher of the two latitudes lies.
 When sailing between two positions on equal latitudes in different
hemispheres, the initial course will be equal to the final course.

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See figures below showing GC tracks in various configurations of initial
(A) and final (B) positions.

Same lat but diff hemispheres. In Nly hemisphere In diff hemispheres

in Sly hemisphere in diff hemispheres

Fig: GC tracks in various configurations of initial (A) and final (B) positions.

The decision as to whether or not to use great-circle sailing depends

upon certain conditions. The saving in distance should be worth the
additional effort, and of course the great circle route cannot cross-land,
nor should it carry the vessel into dangerous waters. Composite
sailing as described above may save time and distance over the
rhumb line track without leading the vessel into danger.
Since great circles other than a meridian or the equator are curved lines
whose true direction changes continually, the navigator can not attempt
to follow it exactly. Rather, he selects a number of points along the great

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circle, constructs rhumb lines between the points, and follows these
rhumb lines from point to point.

Fig: Great circle track showing the vertex on the earth’s surface

In the figure above,

A is the point of departure,
B the destination,
P the pole nearer to A or B whichever has a greater latitude),
AXVB is the great circle through A and B,
V the vertex, and
X any point on the great circle.
The arcs PA, PX, PV, and PB are the co-latitudes of points A, X, V, and
B, respectively.
The length of arc AB is the great circle distance between A and B.
Arcs AB, PA, and PB form a spherical triangle.
The angle at A is the initial great-circle course from A to B
The angle at B is the supplement of the final great-circle course (or the
initial course from B to A).
The angle at P is the D’long between A and B. This angle cannot be
greater than 180 since we are interested in the shortest distance on
the GC arc.

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Great circle sailing by computation usually involves solving for the
distance, initial great circle course at A, final course at B, position of the
vertex and the latitude and longitude of various points (X) on the great
circle. The computation for initial course and the distance involves
solution of an oblique spherical triangle, and any method of solving
such a triangle can be used. The solution for the vertex and any point X
usually involves the solution of right spherical triangles.
In the spherical triangle PAB, PA = Co lat of A, PB = Co-lat of B and
APB = D’ long between position A and B. The solution of this triangle
can be done using Haversine formula, Napiers rule and A, B and C
tables.

Haversine Formula
Calculation of the distance:
Hav one side = Hav opp angle * Sin 1st adj side * Sin 2nd adj side + Hav
(diff between adj sides)

That is Hav AB = Hav P * Sin PA * Sin PB + Hav (PA ~ PB)

Calculation of initial course / final course
Hav one angle = Cosec 1st adj side * Cosec 2nd adj side * (Hav opp side
– Hav (diff bet adj sides))
Initial course:
Hav A = Cosec PA * Cosec AB (Hav PB – Hav (PA ~ PB)
Final course
Hav B = Cosec PB * Cosec AB (Hav PA – Hav (PA~PB)
Remember that the initial course and the final course can be calculated
using the above formula only after calculating the GC distance AB. It
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 must also be noted that the initial course and final course so obtained
by the above method are the angles (angle A and B) contained within
the triangle PAB and therefore must be converted into a three figure
notation to obtain the initial or final true course on a case by case basis.

Using ABC Tables to solve the great circle courses and distance
ABC tables could also be used to calculate the initial and final course as
follows
Initial course
While working out the initial course by this method we imagine A which
is the initial position to be the observer and B the destination position to
be the sun and hence use Lat A as latitude and Lat B as declination. To
convert the d’long of B from A into LHA we must remember that the LHA
is measured westerly, from the celestial meridian of the observer to the
celestial meridian of the heavenly body.
Therefore LHA = d’long (if d’long is W) and LHA = 360 – d’long if d’long
is E)
Using D Long and taking Lat A as Lat find the A correction (use the
signs as appropriate)
Taking D Long and taking Lat B as declination find the B correction (use
the signs as appropriate)
Calculate C correction as per signage
Using the C correction and latitude of A find the azimuth which is the
initial course.
Final Course
While working out the final course by this method we now imagine B to
be the initial position as the observer and A to be the destination
position as the sun and hence uses Lat B as latitude and Lat A as
declination. To convert the d’long of A from B into LHA we must
remember that the LHA is measured westerly, from the celestial
meridian of the observer to the celestial meridian of the heavenly body.
Therefore LHA = d’long (if d’long is W) and LHA = 360 – d’long if d’long
is E)

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 Using D Long and taking Lat B as Lat find the A correction (use the
signs as appropriate)
Taking D Long and taking Lat A as declination find the B correction (use
the signs as appropriate)
Calculate the C correction as per signage
Using the C correction and latitude of B find the azimuth which is the
initial course.
It must also be noted that the initial course and final course so obtained
by the above method is the angle contained within the triangle PAB and
therefore must be converted into 3 figure notation to obtain the initial or
final true course on a case by case basis.
Vertex
Any great circle from point A to point B will intersect the longitudes at
differing angles. In fig above, the initial course will be NW, the ‘North’
component being smaller than the ‘West’ component. As we go along
the great circle the northern component decreases with corresponding
increase in the western component. At one point the northern
component becomes zero and western component is maximum i.e. 90°.
It is at this point that the course is 270°.
This point is called the Vertex, where the great circle reaches its
maximum latitude. Each great circle has two vertices one on the
Northern Hemisphere and the other on the Southern Hemisphere. We
can call them Upper Vertex and Lower Vertex. For the navigator the
upper vertex or the shorter of great circle is of prime concern. Vertex is
also the maximum latitude the great circle track will follow. Since vertex
meets the great circle at 90°, PVA = PVB = 90°. Napier’s rule for solving
the spherical triangle is used to calculate all the other components
including the positions of intermediate places such as ‘X’ on the great
circle track.
It is also important to know where the vertex lies in relation to the initial
and final position of the great circle. If the initial and final courses are in
different quadrants i.e. N E and S E or N W and S W, the vertex lies
between A and B. If the initial and the final courses are in the same
quadrant e.g. N E and N E the vertex lies in line away from the higher of
the two courses. This can be explained with the help of the figures
below.
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Fig: Positions of vertex in Northern hemispheres

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 Fig: Positions of Vertex in southern hemisphere

Calculation of the vertex on a great circle track AB given the initial

position and final position as A and B respectively

In triangle APV

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Calculate the initial and final courses by the above methods as
explained above.
We know the values of PA (co lat A), PB (co lat B), Angle A (initial
course) and Angle B (final course). We also know that V is the vertex
and therefore angle V is 90.

Applying the Napier’s rule to the triangle APV or BPV we can calculate
the position of V in terms of angle APV or angle BPV and side PV.
Where the angles APV and BPV are the d’long from A or B respectively
and PV is the co Lat of the vertex.

Calculation of latitude and longitude of an intermediate point

provided we are given its longitude and latitude
Calculate the GC distance, initial, final course and the position of the
vertex as described in the above paragraphs if needed.

In triangle PXV

To calculate Latitude of X
Applying the Napier’s rule to the triangle XPV, knowing side PV (co lat
of vertex) and given the angle XPV which is the d’long between A and X
we can calculate the latitude of X in terms of side PX, where PX is the
co Lat of the position X.
To calculate the longitude of X
Applying the Napier’s rule to the triangle XPV, knowing the side PV (co
lat of vertex) and given the side PX which is the co lat of position X we
can calculate the longitude of X in terms of d’long XPV. Applying the
d’long to the longitude of A will give us the longitude of X.
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Composite sailing calculations
From a starting point A, a GC track is drawn such that its vertex V 1 is at
the ceiling latitude. Similarly from destination B a GC track is drawn
backwards such that its vertex V2 is also at its ceiling latitude. The
vessel then sails from A until it reaches the ceiling latitude at V 1, he then
sails along this ceiling latitude until he reaches V 2 and finally proceeds
on the GC track V2B.
The GC tracks AV1 and V2B are arcs of two separate GCs whose
vertices are at V1 and V2 respectively. The leg V1V2 is an arc of parallel
of latitude and hence not a GC.

Fig: Comparison of various tracks

Why composite sailing

There is no doubt that the shortest distance from A to B would be track
1 which is a great circle. Obviously this track cannot be followed as it
goes beyond the limiting latitude. Since the latitude is limited, the
shorter distance now would be a great circle track AV1, then along the
line V1 V2 and then along the great circle V2B. Any other great circle
track from A to the limiting latitude will have its vertex above that
latitude. It may also be seen that distance AV1 will be the shorter than
the total distance from A to V1 such as AXV1.
Other tracks such as track 3 if chosen would not even meet the limiting
latitude and therefore would have a greater deviation from the GC track
1 which is the shortest. The distance along the track 3 would therefore
obviously be greater than the distance along the composite track 2. It is
for this reason that the two great circles are chosen such that their

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vertices are on the limiting latitude for the making up the shortest
composite track.

In triangle APV1 In triangle BPV2

The calculations:
In the two right angled triangles PAV1 and PAV2 above the known
quantities are PA (co lat A), PV1 (co lat of vertex V1), PB (co lat B), PV2
(co lat vertex V2) and therefore distances AV1, AV2, initial course (Angle
PAV1), final course (Angle PBV2), d’long between A and V1 (angle APV1)
and d’long between B and V2 (angle BPV2) can be determined using
Napier’s rules.
If the sum of APV1 and BPV2 is subtracted from the total d’long between
A and B we can obtain the d’long between V 1 and V2.
To obtain the distance between V1 and V2 can be found out by the
parallel sailing formula
Dep = d’long x cos lat.
It must be noted that the triangle PV1V2 is not a spherical triangle as
V1V2 is an arc of a small circle (parallel of latitude).
The total composite distance in this case would be AV 1 + V1V2 + V2B.

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