How Necessary is a Knot Meter ?

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Makes my head spin!

Not disagreeing, but this is just so far beyond where I'm at as far as sailing. While I always try to improve I don't want it to get where I'm playing more attention to sailing well than just trying to have a good time.

So for me (and my wife) and my cruiser thinking that knot meter just isn't that big a plus. I would glady trade my knot meter (that I have) for a wind instrument (that I don't have).

Don't disagree Don and there are lots of times when we aren't racing but booze cruising. In some dimension all the paying attention while racing makes trimming on a booze cruise an unconscious habit.i Its not as if I fixate on the instruments either racing or cruising. But the scan rate is higher when racing.

Cruising I'll tweak the genny, tighten a leech line, ease the outhaul or something as I get up to fetch a beer. Sometimes someone will ask why I did it. Often I say, "I don't know" or "to remove the flutter in the leech" or "the main tells were separating."

Also for most cruises I pick a reach/reach course so we aren't on the edge but more often than not coming home changes to a beat and making time on the water becomes important again.

And in pure thread drift mode, I find the speedlog more useful than windspeed. However, Its on the wish list for my boat.

[sunbear1]

on my last boat I had a Sumlog propellor type of knotmeter which stuck out about 5". You couldn't turn it off and once on a river (Fraser near the confluece of the Harrson) it did 920 miles sitting still over a summer. With all the stuff in the water in Georgia Staight it never once picked up anything. I am now just going to use some sort of manual unit in case the GPS conks out and a fishfinder for depth with a lead line backup. haven't had much longterm luck with fishfinders. Here's a tennis ball knot meter that could be shortened to 50 feet. It gives the crew something to do in between cowering episodes. Tennis Ball Knot Meter for Sailboats. I say Keep it Simple.