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Headings: Navigation, Then and NowBetween Marion-Bermuda and Newport-Bermuda events, June 18 will mark Nick Nicholson's 18th race to the Onion Patch, and his 25th year as an offshore navigator. In this article, he compares the racing navigator's role and methods in 1979 with those in 2004.
The year 1979 was my first in offshore racing, but it was also the tail-end of an era. Except for races such as Marion-Bermuda, in which only celestial navigation could be used, the classic methods of offshore navigation were just about to disappear. Texas Instruments introduced its revolutionary TI 9000 Loran-C navigator in 1978—at a price of $2,100—and the age of true electronic offshore navigation was just beginning. For me in 1979, however, electronic position fixes were a year away. Instead, my tools were sextant, timepiece, sight reduction tables, crude knotmeter, and radio direction finder. We had a plastic swimming pool thermometer to dip into a bucket of sea water to… Subscriber Login Purchase selection, or begin your FREE 14-day trial subscription to practical-sailor.com. Click Here to download Adobe Acrobat |
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