Quote:
Originally Posted by phil82
4. How accurate do plots have to be to make succesful attacks? I want to make the switch to no map contacts but I don't want to keep missing because I got the speed wrong by a knot.
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Plots should be reasonably accurate, but being off by a knot should not be too drastic. Determining the contact's course is more important than speed. If the calculated or assumed course is off, the difference will be in nautical miles and depending on your gear and crew, you will miss the contact. Calculation errors in speed are more influential in long range shooting solutions than plotting contacts.
As far as the calcs themselves, you can always calculate multiple intercept zones assuming a specific speed. Wherever the sighting is roughly determines the contact's speed. Whenever a contact is labeled as "slow" or medium" speed, I always assume the highest speed for that category in my plots, which is roughly 7 and 12 knots. Anything slower than that leaves you with time to plot a proposed intercept course and position the boat for as close an AOB 90 shot as you can get.
The worst situation I have encountered doing this is a C2 poking about at 1 knot. My calculations were perfect, but I did not feel like waiting 8 hours for him to cross my T so I advanced and broke his back. As long as you have a good initial contact and make good estimates of the contact's course, you should be fine.