Weather Routing

I have had the pleasure of working with Simon Rowell at seminars organised by the Royal Meteorological Society where he used his extensive knowledge and experience to provide valuable advice for sailors as they tackle the challenge of understanding weather. His depth of wisdom comes from high-profile roles with sailing teams around the world and his down-to-earth enthusiasm for the subject ensures that everyone will learn something really useful that they can take with them next time they go afloat."

On behalf of Mylor Yacht Club members  I would like to say how much we appreciated you giving up your time to speak to Wednesday Workshops last night. A very enjoyable presentation giving us an insight into your wonderful world of weather forecasting for ocean adventurers. We had an excellent feedback from members. We judged the evening a great success!"

Simon always has the knack of making complicated information seem much easier to understand and does it with a wonderful authority and lovely sense of humour…. a great teacher and an inspiration!!  He is always on hand to consult and advise and his considerable knowledge is rarely wasted and, as such, it is a great comfort to always have somebody of his standing ready for any call."

Rugby Australia had Simon as the squad forecaster for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.  He provided location reports on what we could expect, daily forecasts for the competition period and real time weather monitoring for the matches themselves.  This was very useful for training activity & match planning in the sometimes extreme Japanese conditions, and for changing travel plans when typhoons threatened."

I've worked with Simon since 2015 on various Olympic sailing campaigns. As well as providing detailed location forecasts with a format that suits the racing sailor & coach, he also explains why the weather's doing what it's doing so that as a coach and sailor you can understand it & make better on the water decisions.  His venue investigation reports are very useful for new locations, and he's also done a lot of work in general weather education through squad training sessions. And he's very handy when it comes to hauling RIBs out of the water too."

We did try to give you a call from Antigua, as we both wanted to say a HUGE thank you to you for your help on our crossing! We honestly couldn't have done it without you and very much felt like you were our 'eye in the sky' all the way across :). Looking back at our 'track', it looks like we had an extremely smooth route across the Atlantic compared to most teams and this is undoubtedly down to you. Receiving your messages every morning was a real motivator for us!"

I have used Simon’s excellent routing services on 2 ocean crossings, one by sail and one by ocean rowing boat. Having Simon’s guidance and expertise on board, not only helped ensured we had a safe crossing each time but gave us invaluable support and peace of mind. His routing was phenomenal both times and it was as if he was there with us how accurate his forecasts & recommendations were! I could not recommend Simon highly enough."

I cannot thank you enough for your help in getting us across for the first time. It was very comforting knowing you were looking out for us, and it also helped us galvanise our weather skills as we could compare our own thoughts on the forecast with those of an expert, and mercifully we were always on the same page.”

As a sailor, coach and tactician, It’s always a highlight of my day to open a forecast from Simon. His ability to translate the complexities of forecasting on a macro and micro scale to simple priorities is second to none. Always happy to explain in more detail when required and everything is delivered with his usual jest. Can’t recommend his services enough."

Simon Rowell has given several talks at UK Sail Training and also international Sail Training conferences. His background as an experienced sailor coupled with vast meteorological knowledge means he gives relevant presentations at just the right level. Even experienced sailors will learn new skills and better understand the weather forecast and what they see around them. Simon's enthusiasm makes the subject great fun and his talks are a pleasure to attend."