Racing Watch

[Sarguy]

Jordan,

Thanks for the website. I should have known about this YEARS ago, and I feel a little lazy for not investigating time more thoroughly in the past.

[jarcher]

I have a Ronstan Clearstart RF4031. There are (I think) 4 watches in this series. I read the manuals for each one, and I don't see any functional difference. The only exception would be the huge one, which is probably best mounted somewhere, as others have said. Other than that, I think the differences are what the band and/or case is made from. Mine is the cheapest at about $50.

I think this is a better tool than a regular timer, mostly because it has a sync button. This button allows you to sync the countdown with the race committee. So if you miss the first gun by a few seconds, you can sync it a minute later.

It also knows the 5,4 1, GO sequence, and makes all the different sounds at various times. But, I don't think its loud enough. I would like it to be MUCH louder.

Its also nice that it will start counting up after it hits zero int he count down, but it will only count up to an hour. So if the race is less than an hour, its useful. I'm not sure if it will wrap around to 0 as it counts up past the hour.

So, in my club race I am in class B, we're the second start in a 5,4,1, GO sequence. I can set it to count down from 10 minutes and then to start counting up.

As for the skipper not keeping the time himself, probably a good move. I dedicate a time keeper for this task. As for not knowing when the starting gun is going to fire (or the shape dropped - the real signal) well you just can't have that.

[zz4gta]

Whatever you get, keep it cheap, and make sure it has a sync function. The sync function is exremely useful. buttons on the top are prefered over side buttons, gloves tend to trigger side buttons.

[hellosailor]

David, I also swear by a $10 kitchen timer from any dollar store or kitchen supply. Runs a couple of years on a AA battery, makes a loud beep, has a big display, and stays in the galley when it is not abovedecks doing race timing.

You CAN actually find some that will count down and then count UP again to keep track of the race duration. But for the price, and being "hands free", and visible to everyone in the cockpit...sure is hard to beat. And cheap enough to make a gift to the skipper of it.(G)

[jaakennuste]

For race 5 minute count-down we always use B&G H2000 timer. It's very easy to re-synchronise it on 4 or 3 minutes left, if You missed 5 minute signal.

During the race we tend to compare time differences between main competitors in each mark we can. In this case I use my waterproof Samsung B2100 cellphone't stopwatch function. It has function to measure many "laptimes" in order to compare you against nearest competitors.