The Navigation Contest provides a practical application of Piloting (and Advanced Piloting) principles .

Boats are sent on a closed course (slightly different for each boat). The boats are given a series of legs defined by direction and time. Each boat has to determine the last leg or leg home that allows the boat to cross the finish line at the "ideal" time (the time it would take to run the entire course at a constant speed in an ideal world).

Each boat has a team consisting of: helmsman, timekeeper, navigator and bearing taker, plus one or more observers

The helsman steers a straight course for each defined leg, keeping the boat at a constant predetermined speed for the prescribed legs.

The timekeeper tells the helmsman when to turn to the next leg.

The navigator plots the prescribed course legs and calculates the home leg direction and distance, which then allows him (or her) to calculate the time for the leg home. This is the ideal time (in a perfect world) for that speed

Since the world is not perfect, and wind/currents will have probably been encountered, the bearing taker helps the navigator determine where the boat actually is (or will be) at the final turn home, allowing calculation of the direction and speed to get home at the original "ideal" time

If, during the contest, the boat has been pushed further away from the finish line than the original plot indicated, the speed for the leg home must be increased. Conversely, if pushed closer, the home leg speed must be decreased.