I60 wind

[fred1diver]

Hello everyone, what are your thoughts on the Raymarine I60 wind instruments.
a bit of background info first.
I sail on the Ottawa river which is quite narrow and the wind changes rapidly, so I was thinking that wind instruments might help me get a bit more wind (to find it and adjust the sails quicker)
do you think it is overkill or justified?
I have found a good deal on the system and am obviously thinking about it!

woils just need to route the wire in fall with The mast down

 

[Ken13559]

Always good to have more than you usually need, 'cos you never know when that extra instrument would become useful.

 

[Joe]

so I was thinking that wind instruments might help me get a bit more wind (to find it and adjust the sails quicker)
do you think it is overkill or justified?

I'm all for upgrading sailing instruments.... but I don't think your justification will apply. The instrument can't predict the future, it simply tells you what's happening in real time and hopefully a history record of the data. But even with the history log, it'll be up to you to do the predicting.
BTW racers keep track of their headings to help them make tacking/jibing/vmg decisions.. You can do this with a normal compass and a notepad to record your headings on each tack. but more often, you'll see them using the following type of instrument .

Although a wind instrument is a nice tool,( and it should have the capacity to display TRUE wind data as well as APPARENT,) for the purposed you intend, I think you'd benefit greatly from a tactical compass that keeps track of your previous headings and uses them to define lifts and headers.... and that's what you want to know. Sailing in confined areas is all about recognizing the shifts. . Good luck. Oh, a good set of tell tales is much more effective aid for trimming sails.

 

[kappykaplan]

and it should have the capacity to display TRUE wind data as well as APPARENT

 

[dlochner]

I'll be a bit of a contrarian here. Learning to sail without instruments will make you a better sailor. Initially sailing in tight areas with shifting winds, the shifts appear random, they aren't. Focusing on the instruments will take your eyes away from the water, surrounding land, and the signs of a wind shift. Learn how the boat responds to conditions and wind responds to terrain. Learning this will help you even when you sail on larger waters like Lake Ontario.

Wind instruments tell you what the wind has done, not what the wind will do. Your eyes will tell you what the wind will do and the tell tales will tell what the wind is doing and what you should be doing with your sails.

The wind instruments will tell you what has happened at the top of the mast, which on a 30 foot boat is probably 35-40 feet above the water and above the wind shear line at about 30 feet. Most of your sail area is well below the mast head, the sails need to be trimmed to take advantage of the wind they are in. This is one of the reasons twist is induced in the sail, the top and bottom of the sail see different wind directions.

The down side to instruments is they draw your eyes inside the boat and don't teach to you to use your senses. Better sailors use their senses. Feel the boat, feel the wind, feel the water. See the wind, see the water, see the sails.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

The I-60 is a good instrument and it can be networked. It's not going to make you a better sailor but it will provide accurate reference points for the conditions that you observe. I'm always in favor of instrumentation. Keep in mind that the system is a good deal because it is outdated. The I-70 multi-function display with full network capability with boat speed, depth, log, etc. is the current technology. You can network the I-60 display with all the new instruments and chartplotters on NMEA 2000. I am relocating my I-60 display to my nav desk down below. I'm sure the masthead transducer is capable of being networked, but I don't know the details. As @Joe is saying, half the purpose of the wind display is to provide TRUE wind speed and direction. Not knowing what instruments you have for boat speed, we can't tell if the I-60 will be fully functional for you or not.

 

[JamesG161]

The down side to instruments is they draw your eyes inside the boat and don't teach to you to use your senses.

Mine is displayed in front of me, at the Helm.

What is creating the Winds?

Answer = The Sun.

So how much in front of you is needed?

Normally the Horizon, or about 5 NM.

Jim...

 

[Joe]

I'll be a bit of a contrarian here............etc.....

Why, then, do sailors use instruments?

 

[dlochner]

Why, then, do sailors use instruments?

Good question. Thanks for asking.

Instruments have their uses. The wind instruments I have (when they are working) I use to track trends. My chartplotter (B&G Zeus 3s) will track wind direction and speeds over the course of several hours. It is helpful to have the instruments track this data rather than me writing it down every few minutes. The autopilot uses it to hold a course relative to a wind direction. This is particularly helpful on a long passage with a small crew, it is one less task for us to manage.

SOG and STW are useful for understanding how current is affecting the boat's course and speed. Knowing this information can tell you how to adjust course to compensate for wind and current. These also factor in to calculations on VMG and ETA.

This kind of information is useful on longer passages and especially when off shore when visual references are limited or non-existent.

None of this information is useful in a narrow river with shifting winds. None of this tells you how well your sails are trimmed. None of this information will tell you what the conditions will be in 30 seconds or 30 minutes.

Your eyes will tell you when a puff or shift is coming. You eyes will tell you when a wave is coming. The hair on the back of your neck will tell you what the wind is doing. The instruments won't tell you the wind will die in a few boat lengths because of a hill or increase because of a valley. The feel of the helm will tell you if you have the sails trimmed correctly as will the tell tales.

It has been told that Dennis Connor always got a haircut before any big race because he could feel the wind on the back of his neck better after the haircut. I use my cheek.

 

[Hollyberry]

We are on our 6th boat after 40 years of sailing, this is the first boat with functioning wind instruments. I still look up at the masthead wind vane.. just sayin'...
I do like not having to 'guesstimate' the wind speed, I'll say that, but even with a bimini (also our first) I lean outboard to watch the windex.

 

[dlochner]

I do like not having to 'guesstimate' the wind speed

The Beaufort Scale provides a good and accurate scale to estimate wind speed.

Beaufort Wind Scale

 

[Tally Ho]

I like having wind instruments on my boat, but I usually sail in the early spring without them until I hike up the mast to install the anemometer. I do have mine set up to provide both True and Apparent wind, which is also helpful.

You could try a wireless system (Garmin wireless wind or Raymarine). I have an older Tac Tic (now owned by Raymarine) Wind instrument. Works fine for me, and no wiring to set up…but to get True wind, you may have to wire the boat speed into the “system”.

I find that I sense the wind gust before it is registered on the instrument though…

I feel the boat heel, I hear the rigging tighten, I sense the gust on my cheek, see the water change…all before the wind instrument registers it….but then I can read just HOW strong the gust is on the wind gauge

Greg