International audience Particle-tracking models can simulate the drift of floating objects in the ocean, and provide a valuable tool for search and rescue operations at sea. The choice of model parameters has a big impact on the prediction, and can greatly affect the success of the search and rescue operations. In particular, the way in which windage is introduced into the model largely determines the dispersion and fi nal distribution of the numerical floats. The Marine Institute has conducted several experiments with OpenDrift, which have proven to be useful to help in search and rescue operations and to investigate the important connection that exists between people missing from the coast of Ireland and being found on the Welsh coast. This has culminated in the implementation of a new version of an OpenDrift-based, web application called ADRIFT, which allows to select between a range of different objects with specific leeway properties.