Hand held compasses are not for steering, they are for taking bearings on other objects. Both Potomac Daysailer's hands are extremely busy when sailing his ultra cool dinghy so it's much too inconveninent (or inaccurate) to mess with a handheld or wrist mount. He needs an easily visible compass that is fixed to the boat so he can check his heading with a quick glance.
The digital style compasses (Tacktick) are popular with racers because they memorize the previous heading. That allows the skipper to more easily determine wind shifts.... otherwise, with a magnetic you must use your memory. For tactics, they may use a handheld compass or use predetermined angles drawn on cards affixed to the boat that allow them to determine laylines, judge whether they can pass or not, and know whether they're ahead or behind the competition.
I forgot to mention earlier than another solution is to purchase two small flushmount compasses, such as the type kayakers use, and put one each rail. I, myself, would prefer one large compass in the middle that could be seen from every part of the cockpit. That's why I like the tacktick so much... but it's like $500 after you buy the mounting bracket.
In any event, the most important consideration is that the compass must be easily visible yet not distract the skipper from his steering duties. That is why you see digitals mounted on the mast, below the boom, and magnetics mounted high on the dashboard as close to eye level as possible.
PS...Another option is to purchase a simple, lightweight handheld GPS... the Garmin 76, for example. Not a chartplotter. And either strap it to your wrist or mount it on the dashboard at eye level.. then set the largest display(two features) to show course/heading and speed.
