As a sailor I do often check the shipping forecast (or the inshore waters forecast, also from the met office, similar content but focused on weather close to th

As a sailor I do often check the shipping forecast (or the inshore waters forecast, also from the met office, similar content but focused on weather close to the shore). Yes you can now easily get detailed hour by hour forecasts in the form of gribs which I do use too. However you can suffer from information overload, especially as multiple weather models are available. There's also a difference between a forecast and grib. A forecast is something prepared by a meteorologist, a grib is just the output of a weather model. So the charm of the shipping forecast is its simplicity, a few sentences about the area you're interested in that have been written by an expert meteorologist based upon their interpretation of what they're seeing on the weather model. For cruising sailors this is generally enough, you have enough information to decide if it's too hazardous to want to go out, or lacking wind so you won't be able to sail and a good idea of what wind direction will be and how it will change. The main issue is it only gives you 24hrs + 24hrs outlook (48 hrs in all but second 24hrs less detail) so if you want a view of what will be happening over the next week you need other sources. Also for the racing sailor you want more detail about wind directions and speeds to effectively plan your tactics. The shipping forecast is also easily received all around the UK and offshore from the UK coast, it's transmitted on VHF radio. Getting up to date gribs requires an internet connection, mobile signal is pretty decent up to a few miles offshore I find but half way across the channel or the north sea you've got VHF only (or expensive satellite internet) so the shipping forecast on the VHF on passage lets you know if the weather remains as expected or if there's been a sudden change and you need to change your plans or prepare for some heavy weather. Edit: I should also say the shipping forecast/inshores forecast is available in a minimal text-only form on the met office website, often I'll just read the text (handy for patchy or expensive internet connections) it is fairly rare for me to actually listen to it on the radio.