Market research: What would you want?

[Scott T-Bird]

For race mode, how about some kind of graphic that displays favored end of start and/or favored side of course based on course inputs and wind direction & possibly even current input. That's probably something I'd like to see.

For cruising, VMG & time to destination might be a nice display.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

How about Auto Polar Generation?

In an ideal world!

 

[Jackdaw]

In an ideal world!

For a smart device with a compass, gps, (even better access to BoatSpeed), and wind data, this is actually very easy to do. All it has to do is continuously monitor boatspeed, and compare to the 'personal best' at that combination of True Wind Angle and Speed. If the speed is better, replace the value. That's super easy for a device to do, a tedious PITA for a human. Over a short while, the whole matrix fills in. Creating the rose diagrams out of the data is a snap.

 

[Hunter216]

Something that might be useful as a teaching tool ( raw rookie stage) is a graphical display of a boat relative to wind direction.

When I take someone out that has never sailed before I offer them a chance to steer the boat. I typically give them a visible landmark to try to “aim at”, all well and good until a wind shift happens and we either luff or bear off too far and the panic sets in

If they had a display to look at depicting the boat with a few lines for “targets” that adapted to apparent wind angles it might help them quickly grasp where the go-no go areas are.

 

[rgranger]

All good so far!

I note that most of these are so-called 'repeater' functions...... a repeat of whats in the cockpit, or could be.

How about 'smart functions', alarms depth, wind for sail change or gibe warning, etc?

Future events, like wind data for the next leg after a mark?

Anchoring rode scope length based on wind and depth? Who knows!

A depth alarm while cruising would be nice.... however most depth alarms are as useful as the idiot lights in a car... they tell you that you are screwed instead of letting you know you are heading towards getting screwed. If you sail in areas where the water is shoal you set the alarm for a foot or so below your keel... and then the alarm goes off right before you kiss the bottom. If a depth alarm with an algorithm that could tell if you were heading "uphill" on the bottom would be nice... I imagine it being a soft alarm where the depth reading could change to red if you are heading uphill and are below a specified value... stay blue if you are essentially staying within a range and shift from red to green if you veer off a bad track.

I like the idea of the rode function but would not buy it for that. It would be a cute add-on. If you have a depth meter you already have a rode length indicator.

 

[rgranger]

Garmin echoMAP™ CHIRP 43cv | Chartplotter w/ CHIRP Sonar

That does look nice... but I can imagine it on my cabin top and watching a line wrap around it during a tack, and it getting ripped off and sent to the deep. A flush mount on a bulkhead or mast would seem safer.

 

[shemandr]

For racing I think the info I want to look at the most is compass course relative to header or lift. That's not anything new - Tic Tack had it decades ago. A generated function I would like to see is a time to next shift based on a log of wind shifts in the past. I know we're supposed to do that or have a tactician do it but it doesn't really happen on boats I've sailed on. It's hard to think of info which could better be converted into gains as knowing a target time for the next shift. Great sailor probably don't need that but the rest of us do. If we have a countdown we can focus on that event.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Think like this... the screen 'modes' can be smart, and change based on cruise/anchoring/racing... and racing can have more modes like start, upwind, approach, downwind, etc. Changing automatically.

I like the idea of that a lot, but I think in real life it will depend greatly on how well it’s implemented. Usefulness will be very dependent on how well the switching algorithms work, and how predictable the data fields are. Having dynamic data is a great way to optimize screen space, but it would be very frustrating to look at the part of the screen where I expect to see heading and instead see depth, because the mode switched unexpectedly. I find that with my current instruments I train my eyes to go to the fastest place to get a piece of data. If the data is too dynamic and I need to think about what’s where and when that won’t be great for a device that’s meant to be available at a quick glance.

Oh how about this for a 'smart' function.. a background timer that starts each time you tack... and then briefly display how long it too you to get back to your pre-tack speed. ;^)

Yes please! Subject to the caveats above about predictability.

How about Auto Polar Generation?

As I’m sure you know, there are other automated ways do do the polar generation. I think iRegatta or something like that does it? But yeah, the idea of having it built in, and automatically switching from “train” to “compare” once enough data is gathered would be nice.

 

[BobbyFunn]

Something like that should be a "report", not data.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Something like that should be a "report", not data.

If you mean the time to recover from a tack then yeah, I could see that. It’s not really actionable in the moment. Good to know in a post mortem. Might be interesting to have it flash up briefly after the tack so the team can see how they did.

If you mean the polar comparison - that I would want to see in real time. It is actionable information whenever it’s available, to check trim or make sure you’re on the right wind angle.

 

[PaulK]

Having the option to change the display according to what’s important at a particular time might be useful. Timing at the start. VMG/speed/heading after that? Depth when entering a new channel? Windspeed/direction going upwind/downwind? Bearing to mark/COG? If the system is providing all the information, being able to select just the parts you want displayed would be most useful. Tacktick’s setup does this pretty well for us, though we don’t have a mast-mounted screen.

 

[JohnShannon]

different sized displays, with just 1 NMEA2k connection. Right now it seems you stack 2 or 3 displays each with its own connection to the network. It would be nicer/cleaner I think to have a single long narrow display that shows the same amount of info but with only one connection.

 

[HMT2]

How about Auto Polar Generation?

Now your cooking with gas! That would be awesome!

 

[Jackdaw]

I like the idea of that a lot, but I think in real life it will depend greatly on how well it’s implemented. Usefulness will be very dependent on how well the switching algorithms work, and how predictable the data fields are. Having dynamic data is a great way to optimize screen space, but it would be very frustrating to look at the part of the screen where I expect to see heading and instead see depth, because the mode switched unexpectedly. I find that with my current instruments I train my eyes to go to the fastest place to get a piece of data. If the data is too dynamic and I need to think about what’s where and when that won’t be great for a device that’s meant to be available at a quick glance.

Yes please! Subject to the caveats above about predictability.


As I’m sure you know, there are other automated ways do do the polar generation. I think iRegatta or something like that does it? But yeah, the idea of having it built in, and automatically switching from “train” to “compare” once enough data is gathered would be nice.

Just focus on whats valuable. Let me worry about how to do it! ;^)

iRegatta is a TOY. It does not use Boatspeed , or true Wind to generate them. you need real-time access to these sensors to make this work.

 

[BobbyFunn]

Why mast mounted?

I like a watch where i can flip through the info. Helm can see thier report, tactition can pick his her report, all from the same data source anywhere on board. If captain goes down below he can see same details every one else can.

Good luck on research. Still loking for something decent to see this on a small boat thats not a complete ripp off.

 

[danstanford]

How about speed relative to polar target instead of speed through water? You would need to also have TWA targets but essentially it replaces the step of reviewing your polar chart to ascertain what those targets would be and one assumes the device would be smart enough to modify the targets if the TWS changes.

 

[Apex]

For daysailing, I pay attention to depth, course/distance back to port and water temperature (swimming is high on the list of priorities when out on a nice day).

Having consistent data layout, I find more important. When crewing on boats, typically the labels are small and hard to read, so it takes time to learn what numbers are where. At night, even more so.

But different modes (race start, cruising, anchoring, navigating hazards) is a nice way to pull up different programmed configurations. It would be really interesting to see upwind/downwind automatically, but machines may not understand intentions and the display reconfiguring itself may be frustrating. What about a toggle button at the helm, so the information can be changed ahead of turning at the mark, after, before.....you can then have auto-toggle versus manual toggle mode. Following on that a 2nd programming button for switching modes and sub-modes?

 

[Will Gilmore]

As a cruiser, I would be interested in local current information: direction, speed, incoming or outgoing tide and times for high and low. Access to bridge clearance, some key navigation aides when entering unfamiliar ports. Maybe AIS alerts or switching screens with a vest mounted remote control. Programmable watch rotation alarms. I could see it as a nice topside audio/visual monitor interface with any electronic system's output from radar, fish finders, anchor alarms to engine computer diagnostics and theft protection, even as a cockpit entertainment system.

I honestly see the device described in the original post as most useful to racers, but for a cruiser, its possibility for great flexibility in interfacing with navigation and cruising information and onboard system status may offer some desirable utility.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Will Gilmore]

With vest mounted remotes on every crew member, it could also act as a MOB alarm and maintain a watch on the MOB, pointing to direction and distance to the lost crew.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Will Gilmore]

Hey, since we are talking mast mounted, how about something that integrates rig tuning information? Interface with sensors on chainplates, rake, backstay tension and prebend; it could sense heel and angle of attack to combine with wind trends and suggest reefing or sail trim actions.

As many sailors who have rig tuning questions, it would be quite useful to refer to a mast mounted screen as you adjust your rake and tension your stays.

-Will (Dragonfly)