Tactical Compass overview

Aug 22, 2011
1,113
MacGregor Venture V224 Cheeseland
Nice work. Reminds me of all of the Land Nav courses (or attended) I gave while in the army.

Difficult to teach a tanker that you have to get off the iron to read a damn compass!
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Wow thanks this is great info. However you missed one I just got and think will work well.

https://www.ritchienavigation.com/r...ies/tactician/x-port-tactician-surface-mount/

I'm curious of your thoughts or experiences with it. I'm just starting out with racing 2nd year coming up and am looking forward to improving.
Nice compasses. For racing you will need two of them, as they are designed to be mounted on the side decks just in front of where the driver sits. A single one is very hard to see on most boats. and unless you mount it on the centerline, quickly reading the numbers for either side is a real pain. And quickly reading the numbers is the name of the game. My eyes are focused on the telltails AND the compass 95% of the time.

KVH also makes this type in a Fluxgate version... About $500 each. Downside is that you still need a mechanical backup.

KVH01-0148-2T.jpg
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Like here. With the mast-mounted compass in the line of sight with my tell-tails, I can keep the boat in upwind mode, and at the same time know if we're knocked or lifted.

upwind.jpg
 
Sep 15, 2016
790
Catalina 22 Minnesota
Thanks @Jackdaw for the advice. I am planning to mount it on Velcro for the time being to see how it works and if need be move it from side to side for now. If it works great a 2nd one is not hard to get. However I did have one other crazy idea over this long winter. Why cant I mount it backwards on the stern inline with the tiller. I realize the bearing for navigation is not useful but since I am on a lake and only using it for tacking purposes would this work? I thought again of making it portable. Being on the stern it would be easily readable and out of the way of everything upfront. So how crazy am I?
 
Apr 16, 2017
841
Federation NCC-1701 Riverside
Send me the option list for a free boat.

While im going over the options i'd like, someone here can design a bluetooth compass that reports the boat heading to my smartwatch. Might as well show wind vectors as well.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Send me the option list for a free boat.

While im going over the options i'd like, someone here can design a bluetooth compass that reports the boat heading to my smartwatch. Might as well show wind vectors as well.
The iRegatta Pro app does that. Has a Apple Watch app.

iRegatta watch.png
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Thanks @Jackdaw for the advice. I am planning to mount it on Velcro for the time being to see how it works and if need be move it from side to side for now. If it works great a 2nd one is not hard to get. However I did have one other crazy idea over this long winter. Why cant I mount it backwards on the stern inline with the tiller. I realize the bearing for navigation is not useful but since I am on a lake and only using it for tacking purposes would this work? I thought again of making it portable. Being on the stern it would be easily readable and out of the way of everything upfront. So how crazy am I?
Huh. I didn't realize that those Ritchie tactical compasses were so affordable. $60?? Wow I'd get two. You could mount one behind you, but who wants to be looking backwards all the time. Getting used to the reversed bearings would be hard. You really want it in your line of sight.