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SailTimer News

Keeping you at the forefront of sailboat navigation.

Wireless Wind Instrument for Spring Launch

The wireless, solar-powered SailTimer Wind Instrument™ has now been sold in 21 different countries around the world, from Australia to Denmark to Switzerland to Chile. In the USA, the new anemometer has been ordered by sailors in 25 different states. 

If you want to have the new Wind Instrument for spring launching, it is time to start planning. Order online and get a $25 discount off the retail price of US $449.99.  The initial inventory was sold out with pre-ordering, and we are now taking orders for late April delivery.  Reserve yours now with a special price of US $424.99.

Even we have been surprised by the capabilities of the new innovations, in the final field testing that we have done.  Wind direction with precision down to a degree or two(!).  The wind cups display wind speed in the lightest puff of air, less than 1 knot.  Extra large solar panels so that even on cloudy days you are generating excess power to keep the powerful battery topped up. 

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The innovative new wind cup blades are designed to maintain wind speed accuracy even when you are sailing along heeled over.  With standard cup, ultrasonic and propeller anemometers, when the boat heels over, the wind increasingly hits them from underneath.  But this new blade design sets a new standard (patent pending).  The blades have a profile to the wind like wind cups when the boat is upright, but like a propeller when the boat is heeled over. 

This is the first masthead anemometer that can be installed without having to climb or lower the mast.  If you have an extra spinnaker or pennant halyard, the new Wind Instrument comes with a loop on the Mounting Rod that allows you to easily raise it from deck level.  Or, the SailTimer Track Slider™ is an accessory that lets you raise the Wind Instrument up the mainsail track, until you get a chance to mount it on the masthead. 

The pre-orders are expected to be shipping through April.  Don't worry about contacting us about timing;  spring launches are coming up, so we are busily ensuring that the manufacturing is going as quickly as possible.  Packages will be shipping out based on the sequence in which orders were received.

If you want the new SailTimer Wind Instrument™ for spring, we have a limited number of units left in the current manufacturing run for shipping in late April.  A premium anemometer without the usual marine electronics pricing.  Check out the following page for full details.

 



SailTimer™ app and Charts Edition v. 5.6.2:

Multi-Waypoint Tacking Routes

Whether you want a tacking route for race marks, cruising or daysailing, this new update to version 5.6.2 of the SailTimer app and Charts Edition on iOS allows you to enter multiple waypoints and name the route.  If you have a list of lat/long coordinates from a cruising guide or race committee, you now also have the option to copy & paste them in, rather than placing pins on the map for each waypoint.  Then see your optimal tacks as you move through the tacking route. These features are in v. 5.6.1 of the SailTimer app in iTunes now, and v. 5.6.2 for the SailTimer app and Charts Edition is currently being reviewed at iTunes, and should be available next week.

It's easy to display your optimal tacks and Tacking Time to Destination (TTD®) in the SailTimer app (and free Charts Edition).  This is only available in iOS, but we are working on some new options for Android, which we should announce this spring.  Under the new Tacking Routes button in the upper left corner of the screen, you can save a single waypoint or a tacking route with multiple waypoints.  Then under the Input button, just enter the wind direction under the Wind tab, and a destination under the Bearing tab.  That's it;  now press Optimal Route.  If you are using the wireless Wind Instrument, you don't even need to enter a wind direction;  the tacking results just update automatically as the wind changes. Detailed How-to-use instructions are also available on our web site. 

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In the screenshots above, the blue lines show the tacking route. The green lines show the optimal tacks to the next waypoint, based on your boat's polars and the wind direction/speed.  At the bottom of each screen, you can see the TTD (Tacking Time to Destination) and distance to the next waypoint.  Click on the screenshots below to see full-size versions.  The one on the right shows new Previous/Next buttons, to see the next tacking results as you move past a waypoint. 






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Bonus for App Users

The low-cost SailTimer™ apps provide advanced tacking results that you can't get in even the most expensive GPS chartplotters.  How can a GPS chartplotter calculate your ETA correctly if it doesn't know your tacking distances?  The patented SailTimer app (and Charts Edition) solves this problem, using tacking distances to give you a quick and easy display of your optimal tack headings, distances and times.  Plus, when using the app with the SailTimer Wind Instrument™, whenever the wind changes, your tacking results update automatically. 

If you want to let other sailors know about these unique tacking capabilities (in a free app), give the new version 5.6.2 of the SailTimer app (or Charts Edition) a good comment and star rating in the App Store.   As a reward, if you email to let us know, we'll make sure you get an early shipment if you are ordering the new wireless, solar-powered Wind Instrument. 

 

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