Electronics for sailing

Electronic solutions to the specific problems that sailing boats encounter – such as navigation at low speeds relative to tidal streams, and judging where to tack to clear a headland or reach a waypoint – are no longer cutting edge technology.

However, investment in sailing-specific software tools offers the big companies limited returns compared to the enormous markets that exist for sport-fishing devices, especially in North America.

So new sailing software was historically developed via complex and often custom products aimed at top-end racing teams. This meant that tools capable of taking the guesswork out of where to tack, eliminating the effort associated with unnecessary tacks, or speed up passage times, sometimes by an appreciable amount, were mostly out of reach of the cruising skipper on a typical boat owner’s budget.

Fortunately, we’re now in the middle of a slow but steady revolution for sailors on a number of fronts. And if you haven’t looked into the latest multifunction displays, apps for tablets and phones and networked instrument possibilities for a few years, it may surprise you what can now be