Current Lab

01/24/2025

Announcing the new Current Lab API with a demonstration video! If your company is operating on the water, this service gives you the power to integrate currents/wind/wave data into your existing workflow.
api.current-lab.com

The 3 goals of the Current Lab API are:
1. Hyperlocal resolution (up to 50x finer than standard models)
2. Unmatched accuracy
3. Effortless integration

In the 5 minute demo, I show how to download ocean model data and run a drift trajectory forecast. The beta version of the drift model has already saved users tens of thousands of dollars by locating lost unmanned vehicles and even a kitesurfing board.

Contact me for a demo, to discuss your use case, or to inquire about custom features.

https://youtu.be/-d67Nx5_gWQ

Introducing the Current Lab API https://api.current-lab.com/ Shows how to download NetCDF and GRIB ocean current files and run the new drift trajectory model.

08/27/2024

Signup link for Vineyard Race GRIBs is now live! This race package blends 2 different models in order to provide high-resolution, hour by hour currents for the entire race course in a single [large] .grib file.

Sign up to receive high-resolution GRIB files of the ocean currents in Long Island Sound and Rhode Island Sound. About the ocean forecast model: 200 meter horizontal resolution. 1 hour timesteps. Includes tidal and wind-driven circulation. Each day's file covers 72 hours starting at 0:0

07/09/2024

Current Lab customers swept the podium in this year's biennial Newport Bermuda Race. Out of 99 boats in the St. David's Lighthouse Division, our small group of users amazingly accounted for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes.

Congratulations to:
🥇 Devin Santa, navigator of Carina.
🥈 Ed Cesare, navigator of Hound (and an early supporter of Current Lab).
🥉 Ben Sperry and Brian Gault of Gentian.

Passionate sailors are the ideal early adopters for this new technology that could have broad-reaching future applications for shipping, naval defense, and more. I'm extremely grateful for all of their feedback and insight, as well as the onboard data they collect.

02/25/2024

It’s already time to reserve your spot for a Newport Bermuda Race Package! Our customers won first place across 4 classes in the last Newport Bermuda Race thanks, in part, to Current Lab’s accurate mapping of the Gulf Stream and a critical counter-clockwise eddy south of the Stream!

With this package, you’ll get 2 separate proprietary ocean GRIB files — the open ocean Gulf Stream currents and the hyperlocal coastal currents for the start of the race. In addition, we send out oceanographic analysis PDF documents in the weeks leading up to the race to explain the datasets, the scientific theory, and the models’ uncertainty levels.

Sign up here: https://www.current-lab.com/shop/p/newport-bermuda-2024

11/13/2023

Introducing the new Current Lab website – now with an ecommerce shop for the consumer sailboat racing market!

Over the course of the summer, I received emails from sailors requesting GRIB files for several sailing events. For those unfamiliar, GRIB is a file format that can be used to store meteorological or ocean model data which, when formatted correctly, can be loaded into 3rd-party sailboat routing software such as Expedition Navigation & Sailing Software.

Initially, I was simple handling these requests manually — writing code to generate custom ocean GRIBs and then emailing the files — but this was an expensive process, both in labor and cloud computing costs, so I brainstormed a way to make the system more scalable.

The result is a fully rebuilt Current Lab website which now features a self-checkout GRIB Store. You can order ocean forecasts for your upcoming regattas and will receive Current Lab ocean GRIBs via email on the dates specified on the product page. In the future, we may also offer other types of metocean data packages, such as printable tidal maps.

My hope is that the new website will provide a convenient and straightforward purchasing process so that Current Lab's ocean data can continue providing a meaningful advantage to our customers.

current-lab.com

09/12/2023

Results from the Vineyard Race last week:

Out of the 7 teams using Current Lab data, 4 of them finished first in their class! These teams competed across 5 different classes, so this is result is only 1 away from a perfect result of winning all 5 classes.

This week, attention turns to the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup in Newport, Rhode Island. To receive ocean current forecasts from Current Lab’s exclusive high-resolution Narragansett Bay modeling system, sign up at the link:

Daily high-resolution ocean GRIB files for Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound at 300 meter resolution and 1 hour timesteps. Files will be delivered via email on Sep 12-16, 2023.

08/29/2023

Taking a first look at the custom high-resolution GRIB files for this weekend's Vineyard Race. I'm using the excellent LuckGrib macOS application in this screenshot but the files are compatible with Expedition Navigation & Sailing Software, GPS chartplotters, and more.

"The Vineyard has a combination of coastal cruising, where currents play a big role, a stretch of ocean sailing, and a mark to round - the Buzzards Bay tower - before returning."
- Yachting Magazine

You can sign up to receive this exclusive ocean dataset here:
https://book.stripe.com/eVaaGb5Wxc37dqMfZa

06/09/2023

I’m working on the data package for next week’s offshore race from Marion, MA to Bermuda. There’s a 200 km diameter Gulf Stream eddy parked along the “rhumb line” that the competitors will be following. This eddy has strong counter-clockwise currents and can provide a 3 knot speed boost if you sail through the western side, but misjudging its location by less than 1 degree of longitude will lead to sailing directly against the current as well as choppier waves.

If you’re competing in this event, you can sign up here for the analysis report PDF and the ocean current GRIB files: https://buy.stripe.com/eVa15B0Cdc371I428e

05/24/2023

3 updates for sailing customers:

1. New Long Island Sound model created. Can be viewed for free in Current Map https://map.current-lab.com/

2. Custom GRIB offering for this Friday’s Block Island Race. This GRIB file will provide a 72 hour forecast of surface currents at 30 minute timestep and 200 meter resolution. https://buy.stripe.com/6oEbKf2Kl3wB4Ug28f

3. Current Lab will be offering an ocean data package for this year’s Marion to Bermuda race. https://buy.stripe.com/eVa15B0Cdc371I428e

03/01/2023

Current Lab has been selected as one of 10 finalists to pitch at Carta's inaugural pitch competition, co-sponsored by Amazon Web Services. The first prize includes $1,000 cash and $10,000 of AWS credits, which we would use to run our high-resolution ocean models on the AWS cloud computing platform. The event will take place virtually on March 9th at 3:30 PM ET. Please use this link to register: https://z.carta.com/finalist_CurrentLab

01/27/2023

This week, Current Lab had the opportunity to present at the Blue Innovation Symposium as part of a one hour panel discussing a recent collaborative experiment testing a cutting-edge unmanned surface vehicle.

This event provided invaluable exposure to potential future partners and customers as well as insightful perspectives on the broader blue tech industry.

Big thank you to my fellow panelists:
- Linda Larsen (401 Tech Bridge)
- Steven Bordonaro (NUWC)
- Michael B. Jones (SubSeaSail)
- Scott Carr (JASCO Applied Sciences)
- Chris Verlinden (Applied Ocean Sciences AOS)

And to Toby Stapleton for building such an awesome event!