I sharpened my
weapons and ran some more tests (using "Pro" winches)
Good news first: There is no penalty when turning AutoSail off.
Everything else is less pleasant:
- A sail change penalty is applied when turning AutoSail on (without actual sail change)
- When gybing, the penalty time matches the time determined by Dashboard for the current wind speed. However, the loss off distance is bigger than expected, indicating that VR is ignoring the winch option.
- When tacking, the gybe penalty time is applied instead of the tack time. The loss of distance matches the distance expected for a gybe, so it seems the winch option is taken into account when tacking.
- The sail change penalty time (and therefore the loss of distance) is higher than predicted. I tested in around 16.5kn of wind which is closer to the low wind threshold (10kn). Interpolating from the wrong end of the interval (high wind threshold=30kn) almost reproduces the result but not quite. The winch option seems to be applied correctly.
Clearly room for improvement there...
PS. If you want to make tests yourself, issue commands on minute :04 or :09. This way they will be executed at minute :05 or :10 and Dashboard should display the full penalty time on the next position update.