Where's the new Velocitek?

Foghorn77

Super Anarchist
1,133
21
I saw one of the new ones that a dealer had a few weeks ago, but didn't have a chance to test it out. They are out though.

 

MR.CLEAN

Moderator
47,566
5,438
Not here
We did a bunch of stuff on it at the SA Sportboat Worlds. Thing is very hot, addresses everything that was wrong with the SC-1, looks great, and is designed for start line distance from the ground up. There are a few dozen of them out there that have been providing feedback to Vtek, but I think they should be in production really soon if not already

 

layline

Member
161
0
like they say, pics or!
We just got all the new info and it looks pretty cool. I cant wait to try one. We are taking pre-orders now. Call us for details, we will ship this item for Free anywhere in the US, beginning early Nov.

 

Juan Mauri

Member
460
24
Looks pretty cool. As soon as we get one on our hands we will go out to play with it and will post a report. We will have it ready to order online early next week.

Best,

Juan

 
Thought it was to be released early October?
The New Velocitek is HERE. These are now available for Pre-Order for $599 and will ship late this week or early next and will ship you for free. These are awesome and do all the things we need them to do. They will sell fast so order yours now.

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Juan Mauri

Member
460
24
Have you seen the Demo Video, pretty cool features on the new Velocitek ProStart

The distance-to-line is really easy to use and will help many crews get front row starts.

Mauri Pro Sailing - Velocitek Store

Velocitek ProStart

Price: $599

FREE SHIPPING WORLWIDE

Note: Compatible with ProStart Mast Bracket or any Tacktick Micro Compass bracket.

If you are not getting one now, you can always let your crew or girlfriend know that this will be a great Christmas present.

Any questions or comments about this product, give me or Rod a call at 1-888-756-8883 or you can always chat with us.

Juan

 

nkiesel

New member
32
0
The Nauteek SC 200 has a similar start line distance feature (in meters, yard, or boat length with settable boat length) for a long while. The display might be a bit smaller and the the user interface more complicated (because it has way more features), but for a similar price you get way more features (e.g. VMG, automatic switching between (customizable) upwind and downwind displays, waypoints, routes, backlight (not sure if the velocitec has that), rechargeable battery (lasting 10+ hours), ...

Sad part of the story is that there were no firmware updates or product announcements or even web page updates over the last year, so it seems the company is going under or already sunk.

 

Cheesy

Anarchist
877
0
Dear Velocitek, please credit me for my POS SC1 towards the purchase of the ProStart. Thanks.
They had the right idea, the execution wasnt the best though. If the buttons on it worked I would have been more than happy. Just need to find a decent case and figure out how to put proper tactil buttons on it somewhere

 

Editor

Administrator
Staff member
6,704
1,137
carlsbad
Here's what we ran on the front page yesterday....



Velocitek, specialists in GPS instruments for performance sailing, have announced the release of the Velocitek ProStart, the first self-contained sailing instrument designed specifically to provide accurate distance-to-line measurements.

We have one on the FT 10m Anarchy and it works really well. Just ping the ends and presto - it tells you how many meters you are from the line. It takes that critical guesswork of distance to the line out of the equation, and is really good for eliminating the traditional mid line sag. We use it, like it, and now consider it an essential ingredient in our starting process. Here's what a few good sailors have to say about it...

"It's the easiest thing to use out there right now and that is such a big help because there is so much stuff going on... they're moving the start boat all the time and you’ve always got to be on top of it." - Jeremy Wilmot, tactician on Bliksem, 2009 Melges 32 World Champion

“Just got back from crewing at the Melges 32 and J-80 Worlds where we used the new Velocitek with great success. After a couple starting practices in the Melges 32, the new Velocitek was the clear winner for its simplicity in countdown timing and pinging the line and with very accurate results. We nailed several starts, by knowing the time to the start and distance to the line.” - Vince Brun, former Melges 24, J/24, Soling, Star and Etchells World Champion

"I think it’s a pretty good cheap version of what people are trying to do with computers on bigger boats. You’ll probably see it moving into bigger boats... maybe at first as a backup but then they might just ditch all the other stuff.” - Nathan Outteridge, 2 x 49er World Champion

The ProStart’s ultra-simple user interface is designed to minimize crew distractions during high-stress start sequences. The front of the ProStart is reserved for the three most important start-related buttons: the pin, boat and timer sync. The large size of these buttons makes them easy to press, even with gloved hands and easy to find in the midst of chaos. After the start the ProStart automatically switches to showing speed and heading. It also features a wind shift indicator that automatically locks on to your tack angle and shows lifts and headers on a bar graph that runs around the perimeter of the device’s over-sized LCD display.

In addition to providing easy to use real-time feedback, the ProStart automatically records a rolling 30 hour GPS data log of the user's most recent races and training sessions. The ProStart works with Velocitek's SpeedPlay race replay software, allowing racers to combine their GPS data with other boats and create race replays superimposed on a map background.

Priced at $599 the ProStart provides sailors with high-accuracy distance-to-line-measurements in a simple to use format at a fraction of the cost of high-end networked instrument systems.

The Velocitek ProStart is available at major marine outfitters and online. Click here for video of a demonstration of the Prostart

 
Looks interesting. What is the margin of error for this device? Can you enter a calibration offset so that you can measure the distance to the line from the bow and not the device? When do you ping? When your bow or the device is abreast of the mark/boat? Do you have to be on a close-hauled course when you ping? Luff up head to wind? What?

 
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velocitek

sailing electronics
280
38
Looks interesting. What is the margin of error for this device? Can you enter a calibration offset so that you can measure the distance to the line from the bow and not the device?
The position accuracy depends on the time that has elapsed since you pinged the ends of the line. In a typical scenario, when you ping the ends of the line immediately before the beginning of the start sequence you can expect the accuracy to be about +/- 1.5m.

It is possible to program the ProStart with the distance between the tip of your bow and the location where the device is mounted.

I just shot a quick video showing how to do this. I'm currently uploading it to YouTube. I will share the link once the upload is finished.

 
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ursus

Member
154
0
The position accuracy depends on the time that has elapsed since you pinged the ends of the line. In a typical scenario, when you ping the ends of the line immediately before the beginning of the start sequence you can expect the accuracy to be about +/- 1.5m.
If your boat is level when you do the pinging...

Question to Velocitec: Have you enabled SBAS (WAAS, EGNOS, ...) ? That would improve absolute accuracy, but could give 'interesting' results if the boat is heeling and the (geostationary at 0 lat) SBAS satellite is going in and out of view...

Probably not a big issue as long as your latitude is smaller than your heel angle. ;-)

Question for the rules guys; may I carry a 'GPS repeater' on my boat and use it to jam my competitors Velocitec? Put my repeater receive antenna on the stern so he gets an offset and I 'push' him over the line?

Fun times...

 
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RCH

Member
306
1
Redneck, USA
We used it for the Melges 32 Worlds and the Farr 40 North Americans. Worth every penny. Easy to use and easy to mount. Very impressive

 

velocitek

sailing electronics
280
38
The position accuracy depends on the time that has elapsed since you pinged the ends of the line. In a typical scenario, when you ping the ends of the line immediately before the beginning of the start sequence you can expect the accuracy to be about +/- 1.5m.
If your boat is level when you do the pinging...

Question to Velocitec: Have you enabled SBAS (WAAS, EGNOS, ...) ? That would improve absolute accuracy, but could give 'interesting' results if the boat is heeling and the (geostationary at 0 lat) SBAS satellite is going in and out of view...

Probably not a big issue as long as your latitude is smaller than your heel angle. ;-)

Question for the rules guys; may I carry a 'GPS repeater' on my boat and use it to jam my competitors Velocitec? Put my repeater receive antenna on the stern so he gets an offset and I 'push' him over the line?

Fun times...


The ProStart is SBAS-enabled (WAAS, EGNOS, MSAS and GAGAN). Your point about the heeling is interesting. This is not something we noticed in our testing.

I'm not sure why we didn't see it but my guess is that it's because the SBAS corrections don't instantly go out of date; even if you lose the signal for a few seconds, the last SBAS correction message the device got before losing the signal stays pretty fresh until you reacquire the signal.

Here's some good SBAS background on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNSS_augmentation

 
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