Wind, Speed & Depth Instruments

Our trip from Venezuela to Bonaire was the first real test of Bob, our Robertson AP 300CX autopilot. He passed with flying colors.Although I...

As it is with notebook computers, GPS receivers continue to evolve into faster, smaller and more powerful devices. Our latest crop of test models...

What with all the current interest in handheld GPS and LCD radar, its easy to forget that most fundamental and important piece of marine...

Raytheon’s flexible RL70 series is unmatched, but the JRC 1500 is a great buy.

The systems used to attach a mainsail to its mast have come a long way since the time of hoops and parrels, and the variety of options now available for retrofitting plays to the advantage of the consumer.

Beyond the text and photos contained in a sailboat manufacturing company’s brochures, and the words of a dealer or salesperson, and absent an understanding of yacht design, discerning the actual capabilities of today’s production boats is a major task. Gone are the days of Herreschoff et. al., when the conventional wisdom held that a long, deep keel was the best method of producing good tracking, displacement produced a seakindly ride, and performance (straightforward speed) was a simple matter of adding sail area. Prior to the age of fiberglass, most yachts used similar raw materials (wood and metal), and construction methods, so those variables were not generally a consideration.

Our trip from Venezuela to Bonaire was the first real test of Bob, our Robertson AP 300CX autopilot. He passed with flying colors.Although I...

When we reported on Matt Rutherfords solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the Americas aboard his Albin Vega 27, we noted that one of the few electronics that survived the voyage was an email/weather satellite communicator from New Zealand-based PredictWind. We considered this high praise for an electronic device and decided a Practical Sailor sea-trial was in order. PredictWind, primarily a weather-forecasting company, supplied us with its PredictWind Satellite Communicator and 3G Communicator. The Satellite Communicator will be of interest to long-distance sailors. It allows users to receive PredictWind weather forecasts by satellite email, and to send and receive short emails-similar to other Satcom devices like the Cerberus CerberLink. The 3G Communicator will appeal to near-coastal cruisers; it is basically a modem with a signal booster for 3G cell and data service, plus an onboard router.

A new generation of satellite phones is making it easier to stay connected. The latest Satcom devices not only provide the satellite tracking offered by the original SPOT device, but also offer communication via text and email messaging. The focus of this test series was pocket-sized, satellite-based communication for the cruising sailor-devices that provide one- or two-way communications and tracking via the Internet, and can also serve as a backup to conventional personal locator beacons. This report, the first in a series, focuses on the SPOT Connect and Briarteks Cerberus CerberLink devices.

The cheapest wind indicators are bestowed at birth: your nose, the back of your neck, and your fingers. Forget digital precision; these wind indicators are dialed in. They even sense changes in temperature that, in squally weather, can signal a sudden backing wind. Even the most sophisticated wind sensors can't compete with a direct skin-to-brain link. The next step up from our dermal cells is a bit of yarn in the shrouds-super light Angora wool, if youre a stickler. Here, the eyes intervene in the process, so the brain must do a bit more exercise. Well call this soft technology.