Dear All,

Would a VMG function be important to you on a Speedo GPS or not?

thanks,
Jr

Indespensible, IMO - otherwise, you'd know that you were going very fast in a straight line on a map, but you wouldn't know if you were making best possible speed toward your objective. VMG gives you the ability to determine if you are sailing the shortest course with speed.

Stupid question of the day? Are these things class legal? I'd do almost anything to improve my downwind performance from dismal to merely mediocre!

Depends on the class.

Hobie classes only allow electronic compasses / watches.

They're making electronic weenie-bikinis now?

Pete,

nothing stops you from training with a GPS, if you can't get somebody to coach you. Then you _know_ how to run your boat when you get on the racecourse.

The best and fastest way to get faster, is to have somebody to train with who is pretty fast.

I'm with JW on this one. not only is it useful in telling you how fast you're going towards your destination, it can also let you know just how long you'll be bobbing along in the atlantic ocean with some bloke whose gotten to much sun and who sings "she thinks my tractor's sexy" to sea turtles.

I might be the only one though....

I was thinking that as well. Nobody here to train with.

Boudicca:

They're only making them for fat men men like me!

Very distracting to the competition!

Stupid question ?! Possibly but not less than the answers...

Open Forum discussion is for open questions or only for Scientific one?

I thought getting CatSailors view point would be interesting as a several world champion in J Class told me that VMG is crutial on monohull (even more on boat longer than 12m). For him, the only interesting value on cats is the real speed of the boat... Even more that we often need to go a little down wind to improve speed before going up again.

Nevertheless, I'm each time amazed by friendlyness of some people in this forum.




Jr

H2O:

I'm sorry, but I think you misunderstood! I was refering to MY question being the stupid question of the day, because I'm supposed to know those rules!

Personally, I don't think any question is stupid.

Yeah, you gotta love the catamaran community. Even though they'll argue boats to death, at heart we'll all rooting for each other, especially turning a kind ear to beginners...P.S. maybe it's a west coast thing but out here it usually goes by the term banana hammock...

Or "Grape smuggler"

That was a joke, I wouldn't be caught dead in one! I just hadn't rattled Boudaccia's cage in day or two!

can you recomend on a gps product for beach catamaran?
if not allowed on the forum then use p.m

i want one

thank you,

I have strong comments about the Suunto M9. Not favorable. for more specifics, send me a PM, I would be happy to expand.
Try this:
http://www.garmin.com/products/foretrex101/

My crew got one of these on e-bay for something like 60bucks. I would recommend it.

The Foretrex 201 may be a better bet with its rechargeable Li battery. Several of the guys at my club have these Garmins and the general consensus is that the 201 battery life is better than the 101. Both are quoted at 15 hrs 'normal use'. In fact the 101 has shown itself to be nearer 10 or less while the 201 is more like 13 or 14 or maybe it CAN even do 15!

This is all anecdotal changing room and bar talk of course. BTW I still use an old style Garmin GPS V, but plan on getting a 201 as soon as the impulse takes me....

I recommand the Velocitek S3 http://www.velocitekspeed.com/.

This is small company (but great product with 2 year guarantee) in the US company based on Oregon River. The GPS as a great display, big, readable, precise and refresed every sec. Each movement, tunings you do that has an impact on your speed in instantly displayed...

Big advantave vs other is that you share data with your partner.

On the top of that, this GPS is waterproof at 25m.

Tikipete,

No problems.

Regards,
Jr

Whats great about the Foretrex 201, apart from its exceptional battery life, is the computer interface.
After sailing I upload the data to the Garmin mapping software to see my track, tacking angles, high speeds, etc.
When sailing long distance I upload the necessary waypoints and create a route, that way I can focus on the sailing and not go blind staring for markers.