This page gives an introduction to the BX3 package. Starting at the basics.

	Standard Windows Functions
	This program is designed following the standard windows interface most people are used to. The buttons in the 'standard' toolbar can also access the most frequently used commands.
	Start Recording
	After connecting a computer with your instruments(NMEA-output) recording can start. The record button is in the recording toolbar. Your position will be plotted at your current position on the chart. After recording rewind and review your trip.
	Cruising
	If you make a cruising trip waypoints can be inserted. This is as simple as it can get, by simply clicking where you what your waypoints to be. Do you want some information about these waypoints? Add an instrument for waypoint direction or expected time of arrival, or distance to waypoint to your screen. Add instruments is done with the instrument add button in the 'standard' toolbar.
	Logbook
	During the trip you can write notes in the logbook, like the barometric pressure or the weather information. This is added to a yachts logbook.
	Display types There are four types of displays to view your data. These are: -Charts -Instruments -Graphs -Polar Diagrams The user can easily add displays to the screen to get more information about the things he is interested in. After adding a display a special layout optimizer places the displays in a way they have the best visibility. This is done automatically. As a result you get more information by a simple click. Five standard screen layouts are build in to help switching between layouts. These can be accessed by a shortcut key. Displays can be added by pressing one of the four add buttons in the toolbar or using the short keys for example 'Ctrl+C' will give you a Chart. Automatically the screen layout is changed to place the new chart.
	All four display types will be described in more detail below.
	Instrument Displays
	Instrument give you exact values of one of the current parameter for example wind speed. The instruments are analogue or digital, according to the needs of the user or to personal preference. More than 40 instrument types are available, ranging from date and time to IMS target boatspeed and heel angle. If the right equipment is connected to the computer the data will be read, written to disk and displayed. In the case where there is no input for a data type, for example wind direction, the program will calculate, if possible, this using the given input variables. Read More...
	Chart Displays
	The most obvious is the chart where a track is displayed of the route you have just sailed and a visualization of the 'road' ahead. Automatically the best possible chart is chosen and shown in the displays. After adding new charts to the chart portfolio these will be used for the automatic selection. The charts in this portfolio can range in scale from a world format to a detailed harbor layout. A world chart is part of the package.
	Graph Displays
	Graphs can show all sorts of data types. Changes in the wind can be visualized clearly in a graph.
	Polar Diagram Displays
	The polar diagrams show an overview of the reached speeds compared to previous recorded sailing trips or compared to the IMS target. If your aim is to get all the potential out of your boat you will be using the polar diagrams a lot. In this program the polars are real time, which enables you to compare sail settings very quickly and easily. This package has a lot of functions to get the best out of your sails & boat settings. Selection of sails for a race or trip is made easy with the help of a database you build during every trip you make. This database is efficient in showing you everything you need to know. -Before a race you can select the best sail, and know when and why this is the best choice. -You can even see the settings you had during the best/last time you sailed in comparable conditions. This function will help you to get the best performance instantly whithout changing sails settings all the time.
	Database
	Being a sailor you want to go faster all the time. In a race you can directly compare your speed with the competition. Without this competition BX3 gives you the ability to race against yourself or your IMS-targets while sailing. You can even see the sail setting you sailed that time you were a few tenths faster. By selecting the sails you are using a databse is build which 'helps' you to learn more about your boat.
	Racing
	While exiting the harbour you can use all the data you collected while training or cruising. This will give you information about the sails to use and all different tensions you 'feel' are important to your boat. During pre start wind changes can be shown in graphs, tides can be monitored, laylines can be plotted on the chart. While you try to get the best position in the starting area, the BX3 Package constantly tells you the distance to the start line in meters and in seconds. So you know if you have to "go" or to "slow" to get the best start. After the start the BX3 package tells you where to go, when to tack, what sails to prepare for the next leg. This allows you to make a perfect combination of computing power and human strategy.
	IMS Targets
	By inserting your IMS Targets, the program can show your IMS percentage. This gives you a clear indication where your targets are. When using a polar diagram a target curve will be plotted to show you an overview of percentages sailed at different wind speeeds and angles.
	Technical Talk
	This program is made using Microsoft's Visual C++ newest compiler, making it a highly efficient application, which is small in size and runs very fast. The benefits for you are an application that can do more for you than any other program around in a shorter time space. All programs we have seen work with Visual Basic, which makes these program 'easy' to program, hence the name, but much slower and a lot bigger in size. The application size difference can go up ten to fifteen times. This is again a reason to use the Bixmile BX3 Performance Package.