PredictWind — Professional Weather Routing for Sailors

QUICK FACTS

Price · Free · Standard $13/mo · Pro $26/mo

Platforms · Web · iOS · Android · Iridium GO

Best for · Passage planning, offshore routing

Standout · Two sailor-built models (PWG + PWE)

When to use PredictWind.

Ideal when…

·Choosing the best departure day for an offshore passage
·You want weather routing from your boat's polars
·You need high-confidence coastal forecasts
·Crossing to the Canaries, Caribbean, or any multi-day where timing is critical
·You want multiple independent models to compare

Windy might be better when…

·You want a quick visual overview of incoming systems
·You need animated wind/rain/wave maps
·Budget matters — Windy's free tier covers most coastal sailors

Available models.

PredictWind's edge is model diversity. Multiple independent models tell you not just what the weather will be, but how confident to be in it.

ModelResolutionRangeNotes

PWG8 km / 1 km coastal10 daysPredictWind's own model, optimised for surface wind. Often beats GFS/ECMWF in coastal areas.

PWE8 km / 1 km coastal10 daysSecond proprietary model using different physics. Two independent models let you gauge confidence.

GFS22 km16 daysThe American global model — free baseline, weaker on local effects like sea breezes.

ECMWF9 km10 daysThe European model, generally the world's best global. In the Professional plan.

SPIRE9 km7 daysSatellite radio-occultation model — a useful tie-breaker when PWG and PWE disagree.

ModelPWG

Resolution8 km / 1 km coastal

Range10 days

NotesPredictWind's own model, optimised for surface wind. Often beats GFS/ECMWF in coastal areas.

ModelPWE

Resolution8 km / 1 km coastal

Range10 days

NotesSecond proprietary model using different physics. Two independent models let you gauge confidence.

ModelGFS

Resolution22 km

Range16 days

NotesThe American global model — free baseline, weaker on local effects like sea breezes.

ModelECMWF

Resolution9 km

Range10 days

NotesThe European model, generally the world's best global. In the Professional plan.

ModelSPIRE

Resolution9 km

Range7 days

NotesSatellite radio-occultation model — a useful tie-breaker when PWG and PWE disagree.

Key features for sailors.

Departure planning

Shows the best departure time within a flexible window — every possible departure colour-coded green to red. Invaluable for timing channel crossings and coastal hops.

Weather routing

Calculates the fastest or safest route from your boat's polars and the forecast. Set avoidance zones, wind limits, wave constraints — essential for offshore passages.

Offshore weather

Detailed offshore forecast — wind, waves, swell, pressure, rain, CAPE — with GRIB-style overlays and synoptic analysis.

Wind alerts

Threshold alerts for specific locations: your destination anchorage, upcoming waypoints, or your moored boat.

Forecast comparison

Side-by-side of all models for any location on one timeline — the fastest way to read forecast uncertainty.

Offshore & satellite use.

PredictWind works with Iridium GO and Starlink for offshore updates. It downloads compressed GRIBs, route updates, and forecast snapshots over satellite without burning your data budget.

For Iridium GO boats, the optimised interface fetches only the data for your specific route area — a major advantage over full-region GRIBs covering water you're not sailing through.

The verdict.

If you're a coastal cruiser doing day sails, Windy's free tier is probably enough. But if you're planning passages, timing departures, or sailing offshore, PredictWind is worth every penny — the proprietary models, departure planner, and routing are genuinely better tools. Many experienced cruisers run both: Windy for the big picture, PredictWind for the decision.