I used to consider voyage plans just something to meet the SMS requirements but I’ve come to see them as very useful.
Mariners have long planned voyages without formal voyage plans. A voyage plan just ties together the various elements we’ve always used and provides documentation.
For example a chart drawer with the voyage charts is listed on the plan as a list of chart numbers. An electronic list of waypoints can be referred to on the plan by the name of the file or by printing out the waypoint list and attaching it.
The SMS might have a template to use which can be inconvenient but work-a-rounds are easy. For example mine has a section for tides in both the arrival and departure ports but we print out tides and post them. In the section for tides the template now says “See attached sheet” After the voyage we take the tide sheet down and staple it together.
Waypoint for Windows has some features that can be used as part of a voyage plan. The “notes” can be used to save the boiler plate description of the voyage. It also has a section to list the chart numbers.
Old voyage plans can greatly speed up voyage planning as changing , dates, voyage number and a little tune-up are all that is needed to update.
I correct voyage plans during the voyage (vhf channels used by port control etc) by hand then the 2nd mate uses the corrections to update for the next voyage . I save the files using the voyage number so the most up to date one quickly found and retrieved for use.
Bottom line - voyage plans don’t add to workload, they reduce workload.