Smartcom Software are researching the latest technology to keep yachtsmen informed of weather forecasts, navigation warnings, chart corrections, sailing instructions, berth availabilities, shoreside facilities and so on. They are involved with the ALIS project (At Sea location based Information Service), supported by Galileo, which looks at next generation location based services for the marine sector. You can see more information about ALIS at www.alismarine.co.uk

Smartcom are asking yachtsmen to volunteer a few minutes of their time to help them assess some of their ideas by filling in an online questionnaire. You can do this by going to the User Feedback section on the web site, where there is a set of pages giving information on the ALIS service, and on the last page a link to the on-line questionnaire.

The service is being trialled in the central English Channel, northern Denmark and the South of France,  and the ALIS web site has available the trial software (as a free download) to enable you to actually use the service. The trial service will be operational until the end of April 2007 and possibly beyond.

For further information, contact Tim Thornton, Tel 023 9265 8265 or Email tt@smartcomsoftware.com