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4.25.2008 Velocitek Lead User at Charleston Race Week

As a younger sailor it is not often that you hear a boat full of experienced sailors spill out the words; “I’ve never seen anything like it”, or “Impressive”. These reactions are exactly what I got from the crew on Caribbean Soul 2 at Charleston Race Week. After spending time familiarizing myself with the Velocitek in my back yard and car I packed it up and headed to Charleston last Thursday for a great PHRF race that wound up tied for third. I can say that I believe that the Velocitek SC-1 truly helped us attain this result.

As I arrived Thursday to the boatyard where we were launching, I saw a really cool boat, and the standard mess of things to be done in prep for the next day of racing. One of the things to be done was to repair or replace the wind meter and compass receiver at the top of the mast which had been damaged while the rig was being stepped. As I heard this I slapped some batteries in the SC-1, put a patch of Velcro in the cockpit and stuck the Velocitek there.

The reaction at first was that of standard questions. . . Where are the wires? . . . How does it know your speed?. . . Distance to startline?!?!. . . I just smiled to myself and thought; “these people will be addicted like me by the end of this regatta”

After the first day of racing, I asked the crew what they thought. Instead of getting replies I was answered with questions. “How much does it cost?”, “Do you sell them?”, and “What else does it do, clean the bottom?!?!” (My personal favorite). After answering all of these questions in one way or another, I brought the SC-1 back to the hotel, plugged it into a laptop and went over tactics and our decisions made on the race course with some of the crew. They were genuinely impressed at the accuracy of the unit to record and replay the boats actions. We also used the real-time playback to help play out a circumstance involving redress for the first start sequence.

The entire regatta included the same style of usefulness for the SC-1 and the same reactions towards the product. I can truly say that Velocitek helped Caribbean Soul 2 attain good results, understand their tactical decisions better, and race a well informed regatta.

The SC-1 has a few great advantages in bigger boats as well as dinghies. Over the entire regatta the primary functions used were compass, speed, timer, and the distance to start line. As a tactician it allows you to take the focus of instrumentation from the crew and deal with it yourself, especially during starts. The most surprising part of this weekend was how easily the crew learned to use the device. With a few minutes of simple instructions they were operating it like pros. The biggest advantage I found however for the SC-1 on big boats was its ability to be moved around the boat. It can be carried by a crew member while they are moving weight from one side to another or while running the pit. It redefined functionality in terms of instrumentation on the race course. I am fully convinced that there is not a sailing program in existence that shouldn’t have a SC-1 in their inventory of tools.

Much thanks to Alec Stewart from Velocitek, David MacAleer, the crew of Caribbean Soul 2, and HO1Designs.com, for making the Charleston experience wonderful!!

Written by: Patrick Gavin-Brynes Aided by: Velocitek - www.sailgps.com High Octane 1 Designs - www.ho1designs.com

4.15.2008 US Olympic 470 Team Joins the 20 knot Club!

“We are currently training in Hyeres, located in southern France about an hour’s drive east of Marseilles. We've been getting some pretty breeze conditions here for training and it recently has been blowing off the land. It was pretty gnarly offshore so we decided to keep close to land to minimize damage if we did happen to wipe out.

We only managed 3 upwind tuning runs on starboard because my newly installed jib cleats weren't angled properly so they weren't cleating. After we turned downwind I kinda figured this was the best opportunity to try to officially break 20 knots in the 470. We set our kite in a lull then hooked up for a wild ride. Even in the flat water we were steering all over and going through so much sheet it was crazy! We got one major puff that shot us down another 20 degrees and that’s when Stu made the call to drop because the rudder was about to wash out.

After we got on land he told me the rudder was pretty much washed out from the beginning, we just happened to be balanced the whole time. He wanted 20 knots too. We quickly pressed the + button on the VELOCITEK and were so psyched to see a 21.0 top boat speed. We checked the 10 second average to verify, and found it to be 18.6! Previously our top boatspeed was 18.8 and we almost matched that over 10 seconds! Next up, the 25 knots mark. Now that'll be hairy ride.”

-Graham Biehl

3.5.2008 Team McNay-Biehl Training with SC-1

The US 470 Team McNay-Biehl are training with an SC-1 to help them prepare for the Beijing Olympics.

Here's what Graham Biehl had to say about training with the SC-1:

"In the last few weeks we have replaced our tacktick compass with the SC-1 VELOCITEK unit. One valuable piece of information we picked up immediately was a recognition of boat speed. We never had a boat speed read out and this is a tremendous help. We found that 470 planing speed occurs when you reach about 9-10 knots.

Apart from boat speed we are starting to realize the information that is collected while sailing on the unit can be even more valuable. When we replay the info on my computer at the end of the day we can clearly see all the shifts and information about our sailing on that given day.

We look forward to exploring the possibilities of the unit within our training and cant wait to realize its maximum potential.

As for the CAN 630, they used to be training partners. Unfortunately they didnt qualify for the Olympics and they have been kind enough to loan us some of their equipment while our is in transit from Australia. We do have our own sail for competition, but on the particular day it was a little to windy to use a brand new sail. Luckily they had the same model, but a little more used. "

2.25.2008 Velocitek SC-1 Reviewed in Dinghy Sailing Magazine

The Velocitek SC-1 recently received some great coverage in a Dinghy Sailing Magazine feature on GPS devices. Click here to read the full article.

1.10.2008 Velocitek Supplies Equipment to Experimental Kiteboat Program

Velocitek has supplied the Kite For Sail kiteboat program with an SC-1 to help them test their experimental kite-propelled Corsair F-24 hull in the waters surrounding the island of Maui. Please see www.kiteforsail.com for more information about this fascinating new technology.

10.15.2007 Velocitek Sponsors Albacore Worlds

Velocitek provided several SC-1 and S10 demo units to competitors in the 2007 WaveRate Albacore International Championship. Velocitek's Tony Arends coordinated a post-race debriefing featuring GPS data replays.

Velocitek also donated two brand new SC-1's as prizes. One was awarded to Henry Pedro as the Sportsmanship Award and the other was awarded to Graham Allaway as the Against All Odds Award.

The Against All Odds Award is for winning the regatta re-scored on a handicap basis. It is indicative of the sailor who showed the greatest improvement in speed over their previous average performance. We thought it was very appropriate that a Velocitek unit be awarded to such a competitor so they could continue to improve.

9.20.2007 C-Class Catamaran Challenge Instrumented by Velocitek

The C-Class Catamaran Challenge (formerly known as the “Little America’s Cup”) is currently under way at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club in Toronto. The defender, Cogito, and the Canadian Challenger Alpha are Velocitek customers. Both these teams prepared for the event and are racing with SC-1’s.

9.19.2007 Generation 2.2 SC-1 Firmware and Velocitek Control Center Released

Generation 2.2 includes a new version of Velocitek Control Center and two new SC-1 firmware versions 2.2F (Full) which builds on all the functionality of Generation 2.1 and 2.2B (Basic) which turns the SC-1 into a super-simple device that does not need an instruction manual. Click here to download and install Generation 2.2.

The 2.2F firmware has a new tactical compass mode that displays your heading to wind. This puts the same numbers on the screen at equivalent angles on both tacks, making wind shifts easy to spot. Click here for the section of the SC-1 2.2F manual that describes how to use the new tactical compass mode. The 2.2F firmware also has a new speed lock option that allows you to disable the buttons above a certain speed in order to prevent splashing water from activating them.

When running the new 2.2B basic firmware the SC-1 displays only speed and heading. The only procedure that needs to be learned in order to use the SC-1 with this new basic firmware is how to turn the device on. Click here for the section of the SC-1 2.2B manual that describes how to turn on the SC-1.

In addition to supporting the new Generation 2.2 firmware features, Velocitek Control Center 2.2 also gives you the ability to launch GPSAR replays without having to export your GPS data or leave Velocitek Control Center.

9.13.2007 Velocitek-Kattack Cooperation at TYC

Two leading innovators in performance sailing GPS technology, Velocitek (www.sailgps.com) and Kattack (www.kattack.com) cooperated in a technology showcase regatta held at the Tiburon Yacht Club last weekend. Velocitek provided all boats in the Melges 32 and Melges 24 fleets with Velocitek SC-1 GPS Race Computers. The real-time speed over ground measurements provided by the Velocitek units proved especially useful in the strong tidal current of the San Francisco Bay. After both days of racing, GPS data downloaded from the Velocitek devices was replayed using Kattack's free race player.

Philippe Kahn and Team Pegasus won the Melges 32's (their first regatta in the 32) and Kevin Clark's Smokin' won the 24's. Replays of all the races can be viewed for free by downloading the Kattack Race Player at www.kattack.com

8.13.2007 Velocitek to Sponsor Tiburon YC Sportboat Regatta

Tiburon Yacht Club and Velocitek are please to host the Velocitek Sportboat Regatta at Tiburon Yacht Club Sept 8&9 for the Melges 24 and Melges 32 fleets. For the Melges 32 fleet this is a great opportunity to tune-up the weekend before St Francis YC's Big Boat Series. For the 24s it's our only opportunity to blast around the Bay together in September, a great sailing month!

During the regatta, we'll be placing Velocitek tracking units on several boats and using the tracking information to replay the racing at the club house. Velocitek will be offering two S10 units as prizes for the first place finishers.

Please click here to download the the NOR and entry for for this event.

Here's a note from Lesa Gutenkunst the Commodore of Tiburon YC:

"I can’t express how excited I am to be able to host the upcoming regatta for the Melges 24’s and 32’s.

As you are aware the harbor has been going through a lot of changes. Even though we are still in the transitional stages there has been a lot of progress thus far. The harbor and turning basin has recently been dredged to accommodate larger drafted boats.

Constructions of the docks are coming along nicely. The marina developers just put in a 60’ long dock next to the club house where we can raft up a few boats. You can also use the new concrete docks and the wooden docks positioned at the west end of the harbor. I am hope by the regatta all the docks will be completed. The club house is beautifully position for those who want to have a drink and watch the racing. What makes this so special is that it was build by our members 7 years ago. Unlike the older club house it sits on the east side of the Tiburon peninsula at Paradise Cay Marina."

Looking forward to seeing you out there!

Tom Klenke
Director, Velocitek LLC

7.26.2007 Velocitek Sponsors Volvo Cup Melges 24 Long Distance Race

Velocitek sponsored a 12km long distance race on the final day of the Italian Melges 24 Volvo Cup event on Lake Garda. The top three finishers were given Velocitek GPS devices as prizes:

1. Altea (ITA 438)
2. Alfa Spider (ITA 139)
3. Uč Uč (ITA 355)

Each boat in the long distance race was equipped with a Velocitek S10 GPS Speedometer / VMG Sensor. At the end of the race the S10’s best 10 second average speed recall feature was used to see who hit the highest speeds. The top speeds were:

1. 17.9 knots - Magica (ITA 562)
2. 17.7 knots - Altea (ITA 438)
3. 17.6 knots – Gullisara - Lasi (ITA 673)

7.9.2007 Velocitek Releases New SC-1 Firmware With Start Proximity Mode

Velocitek SC-1 firmware version 2.1 includes a start line proximity mode that automatically calculates your distance from the start line based on programmed committee boat and pin locations. This new mode has been added on top of the SC-1’s pre-existing Speedometer, Compass, VMG and Timer modes. All SC-1’s sold to date can be updated with this firmware which is available to download for free from our downloads page. Click here to go to the section of the SC-1 manual describing how to use the start line mode.

6.29.2007 Rohan Veal is the 2007 Moth World Champion!

Velocitek Pro Team member Rohan Veal has just clinched the 2007 Moth World Championship on Lake Garda, Italy with eight straight bullets. Rohan raced with a Velocitek SC-1 mounted on his Bladerider Foiler Moth. According to Rohan, the Velocitek SC-1's VMG mode played a key role in his race winning strategy: "I really don't think I sailed that hard the entire regatta, but rather just went for a good VMG upwind and played it safe downwind."

Rohan's victory is the second world championship won by a Velocitek equipped high-performance dinghy sailor in as many weeks. Last week Richard Stenhouse won the Velocitek Musto Skiff World Championship, also on Lake Garda, using a Velocitek S10.

6.22.2007 Velocitek Musto Skiff Worlds

The 2007 Velocitek Musto Skiff World Championship is now under way on Lake Garda in Italy. SeaCube,Velocitek's Italian distributor is running an informal speed contest alongside the main event using Velocitek S10's provided by Velocitek as well as units owned by the competitors. Here are the top three speeds logged so far:

GBR 332, Richard Stenhouse: 18.9kts

GBR 178, Bill Crocker: 18.4kts

GBR 128, Ian Renilson: 17.9kts

We're happy to note that Richard Stenhouse, who owns and trains with an S10, is also in first place for the main event. Three of the current top five competitors at the worlds trained with an S10 leading up to the event and are racing with one now.

5.16.2007 Velocitek at Tybee 500

Here's a great photo of the Velocitek-sponsored team Pirates of the Chesapeake coming ashore in surf at the Tybee 500.

Keith Chapman (helm) and Alec Daunheimer (crew) are using a Velocitek SC-1 mounted on their NACRA-20 to help navigate and optimize their speed over ground. They are also taking advantage of the SC-1's 40 hour GPS data storage capability to record each day of racing for post race analysis.

4.16.2007 Velocitek to Unveil SC-1 Race Computer at Strictly Sail Pacific

What is this thing and how is it going to revolutionize performance sailing electronics?

To find out, come visit Velocitek in booth 643 at the Strictly Sail Pacific Boat Show in Oakland's Jack London Square April 19-22.

4.3.2007 Velocitek Title Sponsor for Musto Performance Skiff World Championship

Velocitek and the Musto Skiff Class Association are delighted to announce that Velocitek has stepped up as the title sponsor for the 2007 Musto Skiff World Championships to be held at Lake Garda in June.

Musto Performance Skiff Class Association Chairman Paul Clarke said “We are delighted to welcome Velocitek on board as the title sponsor of our first world championships, following our recognition by ISAF as a recognised class. Their products are high-tech and speed orientated and as such are a good fit with the Musto Skiff ethos …”

The Notice of Race for the event has been written such that competitors will be permitted to use GPS equipment during the event.

As part of their support for the event, which will include some great prizes, Velocitek will also support the event through several loan S10 GPS units which will be used to provide post race analysis of the performance of various sailors within the fleet.

As well as the usual points racing that will of course decide the world championships there will also be a maximum velocity competition with a Velocitek unit as first prize; with the expected Garda conditions we hope to see some eye-popping top speeds.

3.2.2007 Velocitek Title Sponsor for Cherub UK Nationals

The UK Cherub Class Association is proud to announce Velocitek as the title sponsor of the 2007 Cherub National Championships to be held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on July 21st-26th 2007. As part of the support for the event, Velocitek has donated a number of Velocitek S10 units to be awarded as prizes for the 6 day event. In addition, Velocitek units will be lent to competitors throughout the fleet to enable post-race GPS-track-assisted debriefings.

3.1.2007 Velocitek at the London Dinghy Show

Velocitek products will be on display and for sale at the Rooster Sailing Stand in the London Dinghy Sailing Show Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 March, 2007. Velocitek speedometers and brochures will also be on display at the Musto Skiff and Cherub Class Association stands.

9.25.2006 Velocitek at the Annapolis Boat Show

Rohan Veal, foiler Moth champion and Velocitek team rider will be presenting the new Velocitek S10 at the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, MD. Rohan will be in Land Space #79 Oct. 5-9. Come check out this exciting new product!

9.15.2006 Velocitek S5 Helps 14 Year Old World Champ

Jason Waterhouse, 14 years old, just won the Hobie Dragoon Worlds. Jason is the youngest Australian skipper to win a World Championship in any class! Jason trained extensively with the Velocitek S5. Congratulations Jason!