SO winter is coming and I have put the boats to bed for the season but I am already dreaming about next year (and working on a Christmas list). What's the best option for a sailing watch / race timer out there? I race most of the time on a Laser now and would like something that lets me set a 2 min countdown from the stat and then counts up course time. If possible I would also love something with GPS that I can ping the line and know time to burn etc. as well as track my races so that I can look at the data later to do better. It would be nice to evaluate tacking angles, how well I maintained my lane, etc. I also race a Catalina 22 Keel boat and would use the watch the same way there, but having a crew most of the time they watch the line and time for me.
So what say you racers? Is a smart watch the right way to go or something more basic like a Ronstan Clear start? I generally don't take my phone on the Laser for obvious reasons and have never owned a smart watch. Are they required to be tethered to the phone? Also what apps are racers using for this out there? I have used Race Qs a fair amount but they seemed to have abandoned all support and stopped with updates and things so i am not sure there a good long term solution anymore. Thanks in advance for any advice you all have in pointing me in the right direction.
So what say you racers? Is a smart watch the right way to go or something more basic like a Ronstan Clear start? I generally don't take my phone on the Laser for obvious reasons and have never owned a smart watch. Are they required to be tethered to the phone? Also what apps are racers using for this out there? I have used Race Qs a fair amount but they seemed to have abandoned all support and stopped with updates and things so i am not sure there a good long term solution anymore. Thanks in advance for any advice you all have in pointing me in the right direction.