Instruments for racing - What should I buy?

[fan]

Been running the B&G H5000 with 2 Vulcuns in the cockpit and Garmin mast display.  Then running pepwave, iridiumGO and a lap top with expedition.  Works great.  Our biggest issue is having an offset paddle wheel debating adding another or going through the center of the boat and just one. Yes we have redone our Cal based off heel using the expedition log files using SOG as a base but best would be one right on center. All depends how far and how much you are willing to go.

 

[Go Left]

Yeah, but then we have to put one sail up and test it before the race, then maybe crumple it away down below for the rest of the day. It would be kinder to the foredeckers and my sails to know what we're dealing with up front.

Flaking sails on deck is now mandatory under the recently signed Owner/Bowperson Union Agreement.  They get benefits (e.g. beer, bandaids and introductions to daughters) and the owners get flaked headsails.  Never let them send an un-bagged, crumpled sail below deck.

 

[Sisu3360]

Flaking sails on deck is now mandatory under the recently signed Owner/Bowperson Union Agreement.  They get benefits (e.g. beer, bandaids and introductions to daughters) and the owners get flaked headsails.  Never let them send an un-bagged, crumpled sail below deck.

If I put that in the contract, they'll inevitably insert an "install the damn lifelines you bought last year" clause. Which, yeah, that's fair. Should be done by spring.

 

[dacapo]

kazoo

bagpipes

banjo

not in any particular order

 

[Looper]

I put in the Garmin Sailpack 43 in my boat - It's a good starter pack with 2 displays, speed, depth and wireless wind.  It's all NMEA2K so it all connected up super simple.  I added the "Steadycast" compass and it was also super reliable at providing headings.  I already had the Garmin Plotter, but this would be something you would need to add for SatNav if you want it.  I think i have maybe $1300 in the system, $2k if you count the GPS and it gives me all the data points you listed above.

 

[Hitchhiker]

I put in the Garmin Sailpack 43 in my boat - It's a good starter pack with 2 displays, speed, depth and wireless wind.  It's all NMEA2K so it all connected up super simple.  I added the "Steadycast" compass and it was also super reliable at providing headings.  I already had the Garmin Plotter, but this would be something you would need to add for SatNav if you want it.  I think i have maybe $1300 in the system, $2k if you count the GPS and it gives me all the data points you listed above.

SatNav grandad? Do you want an amplifier for that?  Just having a laugh. I haven’t heard the term SatNav in decades. Right there with Decca!

That said, I know very little about the Garmin packages, but their big n2k displays seem to work well. So to the OP, there is another option.

now:

 

[Latadjust]

SatNav grandad? Do you want an amplifier for that?  Just having a laugh. I haven’t heard the term SatNav in decades. Right there with Decca!

Phew, glad I didn't chime in with giving props to a trusty RDF or fiddling with a Loran-C. I'll just keep my head down and work out star sights long hand under the light of the kerosene lantern, well, at least that's what my Dad would have said!

 

[shaggybaxter]

The only thing I really don't like about NMEA2000is is the cabling. I fitted out a 28' er with it and I hated it by the end. The pre-terminated lengths made dressing and looming all the cables an absolute nightmare. The plastic little aligment pins in the connectors are too soft and can get squashed, everything about it just sucks. One could argue you don't see it so no big deal. But I always want my cabling done in such a way I can re-enter the back of a panel or do anything that involved the cable without a tangled mess of shit to deal with. 

If I was to do it again, I'd cut the NMEA2K cable  in half and terminate to a junction block, then do all my own cabling from there. Much neater and much easier to re-enter and muck around with. 

 

[Looper]

On 2/1/2022 at 9:12 PM, Hitchhiker said:

SatNav grandad? Do you want an amplifier for that?  Just having a laugh. I haven’t heard the term SatNav in decades. Right there with Decca!

That said, I know very little about the Garmin packages, but their big n2k displays seem to work well. So to the OP, there is another option.

now:

Everyone's a fucking critic.  I bet you are the life of the party.

 

[Howler]

kazoo

bagpipes

banjo

not in any particular order

The only thing sadder than shrimping at the leeward mark, is shrimping while watching your competitor blow past with his spinnaker neatly belowdecks and his crew all on the rail looking keen, with one of them, improbably, having whipped out a trombone and using it to make sad noises in your general direction.  As Sir Thomas Lipton famously put it, "At the right moment, the impact on crew morale of a spiffing trombone solo simply cannot be overstated."

 

[mustang__1]

Yes sir. Man, that was a long time ago. Got the prototype to work, but all the associated costs to manufacture and get to market were more than I could handle. 

yeah.... we're old. now. i wasn't old before, but i can't speak for you. 

 

[Monkey]

yeah.... we're old. now. i wasn't old before, but i can't speak for you. 

At 42, I’m basically dead now. 

 

[Black Jack]

I'm ready to go to the electronics toy store! I'm looking to outfit a 35 ft race boat for around the buoys regattas and some distance bay races.

What capabilities am I missing? It would be nice to have:

• SOG
  
• Speed through water
  
• COG
  
• Mag compass
  
• Apparent wind
  
• True wind
  
• Distance to start line
  
• Chart plotter - Tracking, Bearing to mark
  
• Heel
  
• Post race analysis (is Sailmon the only good option for this?)
  
• Apple watch integration
  

Can I get away with one vendor for all of the above?

Has anyone had luck with the combination of these B&G Units? Vulcan 9, Nemesis 9, Triton 9

Thanks for the advice!

Seriously - you have a used 35 foot race boat and it does not have any of these?  Have you checked the boxes or the drawers? I have to believe there is a Ray Marine something or other that you did not mention.  Despite what the resident detractors say, they work well in beer cans and ocean racing. 

Ask the Editor how he uses his ear hairs as a wind indicators. He saved so much with them, he was able to get into Hobie 33. 

 

[JohnMB]

At 42, I’m basically dead now. 

No that just means your found the answer to life.......

....the universe and everything.

 

[Monkey]

No that just means your found the answer to life.......

....the universe and everything.

Ironically, all joking aside, 42 has been pretty good to me. A boat I fell in love with 12 years ago fell into my range of affordable (no one was dumb enough to buy a boat that nuts), I stumbled into a monster raise at work, and work bought B&G, so now I get an absurd employee discount to use instrument shopping for said boat. 
 

There just may be something to this 42 thing. 

 

[dacapo]

yeah.... we're old. now. i wasn't old before, but i can't speak for you. 

Haaaaaa.  You’re a fucking kid 

 

[carcrash]

Yes sir. Man, that was a long time ago. Got the prototype to work, but all the associated costs to manufacture and get to market were more than I could handle. 

How to make a small fortune in the marine biz: start with a large fortune.

 

[longy]

The only thing I really don't like about NMEA2000is is the cabling. I fitted out a 28' er with it and I hated it by the end. The pre-terminated lengths made dressing and looming all the cables an absolute nightmare. The plastic little aligment pins in the connectors are too soft and can get squashed, everything about it just sucks. One could argue you don't see it so no big deal. But I always want my cabling done in such a way I can re-enter the back of a panel or do anything that involved the cable without a tangled mess of shit to deal with. 

If I was to do it again, I'd cut the NMEA2K cable  in half and terminate to a junction block, then do all my own cabling from there. Much neater and much easier to re-enter and muck around with. 

Not worth it on just a 28' hull - but you can get larger backbone cable and use field assembled ends. I've done quite a lot of this on big boats, the ends are easy, and you don't have to store extra wire anywhere

Micro Bulk Field Datasheets.pdf (maretron.com)

 

[Mark K]

kazoo

bagpipes

banjo

not in any particular order

Takes a lot of skill to play "Yakety Sax" on bagpipes. 

 

[rcbrds]

Ask the Editor how he uses his ear hairs as a wind indicators

DC once said that the best instrument was a fresh haircut

Blackaller said he sailed by the hairs on the back of his neck.  Apparently all kinds of hair are useful.  I still like instruments though, I'm not in their league.