GPS Watch

I want something that doesn't seem to exist. I want a watch that will tell me how fast I'm going and which will also tell me what course I'm sailing. 10 years ago I had a Timex marathon watch and it was OK when it worked, but it went through batteries like crazy. I've been looking around and the watches I've seen are either - too expensive, too complicated or doesn't tell me what I want to know in real time. Seriously there are 4 things I want to know, 2 of which I want to know in real time. The things in real time are course and speed. After I sail I want to know distance traveled and max speed. It would be nice (but not required) to be able to plot the course afterward on a chart. Is there ANY WATCH that does those things well for under $400? Seems to me that this sort of thing should be easy to make and would be something that every dingy and hobie sailor would want...why can't I find one?

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

Garmin Foretrex

I don't think that it displays both course and speed-at least according to what you see on line, it plots your position while wearing it. Of course, maybe the online info isn't complete.

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

from my buddy who sails an International 14

At the last two I14 world championships, we saw a lot of boats with Velocitek Prostarts (can be purchased locally through CCI), which takes GPS readings to give velocity, heading, and even allows you to determine mid-line sag. On our I-14, we sail with a GPS speedometer and a tactic micro compass.

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

I have the Garmin Forerunner 10. It DOES NOT do what you're asking and I'm not aware of one that shows course, but I haven't looked for that either. I personally don't care about heading in real time. However, it is cheap-ish, under $150, fully waterproof, and very simple to use. It can only display distance, time, and speed. After the fact, when you download the data, you can get all sorts of interesting stuff though. I download the data then run it through http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/ to make map plots and speed/distance, speed/heading, or any sort of plot. Here are a few of my example plots:

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Bradley M. Davis - Hobie High Life YouTube Videos
2012 H16 (with 2018 Cayman Main) #115139

Garmin Quatix,
It is made for sailing with lots of sailing features. I use mine whenever I am out. Displays speed and course on same screen, plus the other features you asked for. if you plot waypoints, it can give you VMG and a lot of other info.

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Quatix-Marine-Sport-Watch/dp/B00B2HH8V4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418928905&sr=8-1&keywords=quatix

Doug

Thanks, all. I was looking at the Quatix, but it seems to be pretty pricey...but I'll ask Santa. Bdmer, that is a fantastic GPS plot showing speed throughout your sail. Do you have to do any data manipulation to get the gpsvisualizer to work? In the past, I've tried using google maps just to show the day's sailing, but it wasn't easy and never was able to show speed. Seemed to me that Google and Garmin were not able to communicate well.

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

I have been using Garmin Connect and RaceQS for viewing data after. I will have to look into gps visualizer.

As of my last upload, Garmin Connect does not recognize the Quatix so I just manually upload the .gpx but it works fine otherwise.

Doug

The Cat and 505 and Fireball fleets at my SC use RaceQS. There is an app that they load onto their smartphones, strore the phones in a waterproof container, and sail. After racing, they download and compare notes..... I have no idea how this is done, although if you email me off line, I can forward your email to the high-tech guru's.

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

John,
not sure if that was for me or not,
yep, I do have RaceQS on my phone, as does at least one other in our SC. Between my Quatix, Virb Elite and the phone, think I have enough data?

Santa brought me a Quatix. Been playing with it today and it DOES do what I want. I can see course and speed on a single display. Santa also brought a Sony Action Cam which has GPS that is displayed on recorded video...cool! I musta been a good boy!

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

Anymore I just use my IPhone running Isailer in a life-proof case (waterproof) mounted on a wrist strap on my forearm, it's out of the way. Where we live there are a lot of shallow areas that are too shallow at low tide and having a chart to glance at is handy, plus I can control my gopro, check emails and FaceTime with family, pretty cool.
Bob

I bought a GPS watch a a while back because I wanted exactly what you wanted. The problem I discovered is that any GPS in a watch, (at least 2 years ago) didn't have the response time that I needed. It was very frustrating because its speed response was about 20 seconds off. I spent $400 on this thing and now it just sits in a cupboard. I think the best thing you can use is your iPhone or smart phone in a waterproof case with one of the many apps available for marine navigation. I have an app called MID that works well.

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2011 H16... Have a Hobie Day!
1983 H14 Turbo...

Will be acquiring a Pebble smartwatch in the next couple weeks. Supposedly a couple sailing apps are already available that will sync with a smartphone. Will do some research and let you all know what I find out.

Seems like a good strategy to me - keep the smartphone in a waterproof case in a safe location and then use the waterproof smartwatch for simple interaction and display of critical data. Phone does the heavy lifting, watch does the display.

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Jeff R
'88 H18 Jolly Mon
'10 F18 Closely Called
cramsailing.com