Forum: The Racing Rules of Sailing

Building the ultimate seaman watch

Alan Tan
Nationality: Brunei Darussalam
I am a big fan of Polar watches due to their accuracy in heart rate monitoring and GPS technology. Training sailors with Polar watches has advantages and disadvantages. I would like to start a petition to Polar to improve their watches and build the ultimate seaman watch. So far I have come up with these;

1) Must be able to use GPS to show boat speed in knots in real time.
2) Must be able to select Speed Over Ground for marine navigational purposes.
3) Must have compass function.
4) Must have sailing timer which countdown and beeps from 5mins, 4mins, 1min, 0min. 
5) Must have depth gauge for divers.
6) Must have tide graph and moon phase.
7) Must withstand the harsh elements of the sea.

Anything else I am missing from the list? Polar already has the technology and just need to tweak their products to make this work.
Created: 23-Jun-15 14:02

Comments

Clark Chapin
Nationality: United States
Certifications:
  • National Judge
  • Club Race Officer
2
Several dinghy classes would ban this device because they severely limit the use of electronics on boats that offer a racing benefit.
Created: 23-Jun-15 14:27
Drew Hulton-Smith
Nationality: Australia
Certifications:
  • Regional Umpire
  • Regional Race Officer
2
I am not a luddite, but personally I prefer to stay away from the whole Nintendo Navigator scenario.  Just to nitpick your wishlist, 1) using GPS will give SOG not boatspeed, if you want speed it would need a (probably) bluetooth connection to the boat instruments?
Created: 23-Jun-15 14:33
Zich Zichy-Woinarski Q.C.
Nationality: Australia
0
I would suggest you just go out sailing and have fun with the natural elements and forget looking at your wrist all the time. 
Created: 23-Jun-15 14:40
Joerg Beekmann
Nationality: Canada
0
Most of this could be done via and app on an AppleWatch. The exception is getting speed through the water. You will need to integrate other Bluetooth enabled sensors for that. 
Created: 23-Jun-15 15:26
Tim Hohmann
Nationality: United States
Certifications:
  • Umpire In Training
  • Regional Judge
0
Garmin watches with the right apps already have most of these features, including HR monitoring. My favorite for racing is the RaceQs watch app.

I believe there’s also a way to link a Garmin watch with a Garmin chart plotter and get data from the boat’s instruments, but I’m not sure how many apps can leverage that. I think most racing apps just rely on the watch’s GPS, which means you only get COG/SOG and the app has to calculate TWD based on tacking angles or something.
Created: 23-Jun-15 15:27
Carrick Woodfield
Nationality: Canada
Certifications:
  • Club Race Officer
  • Judge In Training
0
Ideally you would want some or all of the following features:
  • Connect to a WiFi router to collect and display NMEA2000/NMEA0183 data (such as the VYacht router)
  • Ping the start line (dist to line, time to burn etc)
  • Supper accurate GPS (for start lines)
  • Upwind lift/knock data
  • Map tracking (for post race analysis)
  • Customizable display
  • Lat & Log
  • Ability to take a screenshot and email (required for some races for passing specific points)

Basically check out the Garmin Quatix 7.  The only issue I have with it is that it cannot connect to the boat WiFi to collect NMEA2000 data.  It will only connect to Garmin instruments or to WiFi for internet access.  I have not found a way to get it to work with NMEA2000 data from B&G instruments (sadly), otherwise it would be petty much the ultimate one.
Created: 23-Jun-15 15:36
Zich Zichy-Woinarski Q.C.
Nationality: Australia
0
Let's stop the electronics and artificial help and just go sailing, sailingcas it should be by the feel of the elements, nature.  If yyou cannot enjoy it that way then give it up. 
Created: 23-Jun-15 16:56
Knute Forsman
3
This post doesn’t seem to belong to the Racing Rules of Sailing.  Surely there is a better forum than this one.
Created: 23-Jun-15 18:45
Peter Osbourne
Nationality: Australia
Certifications:
  • Regional Race Officer
2
Concur Knute
Created: 23-Jun-15 23:17
Anto Sweetapple
Nationality: Australia
0
I've used several models of the Suunto watch - and this does most of what you are looking for, my only real issue is battery life.  If i wind down the sensitivity I can get 100hrs battery life from the Suunto AMbit, however only about 50hrs from the Suunto Spartan.

so, ideally I'd like a watch with 150-200hrs battery life to suit long offshore races
Created: 23-Jun-15 23:37
Edward O'Malley
Nationality: United States
Certifications:
  • Fleet Measurer
0
I want SOG in large characters to tenths of a knot in order to see feedback on micro adjustments to sail trim or position in the wind.
Created: 23-Jun-16 03:39
Tim Hohmann
Nationality: United States
Certifications:
  • Umpire In Training
  • Regional Judge
0
I think a typical watch GPS is only accurate to about 3 meters and who know how it’s averaging speed, so instantaneous  0.1 kt SOG accuracy may be a bit optimistic.
Created: 23-Jun-16 05:10
John Eilers
Nationality: United States
Certifications:
  • Club Race Officer
0
Many Clubs start classes on a 3 Min sequence.
Created: 23-Jun-17 19:11
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