Mar 12, 2020
The Wind Instrument RB™ is our newest model, which has a Removable Battery in the nose cone, where it serves as a counter-balance.
SailTimer Inc. made the first masthead anemometer that could transmit to smartphones and tablets. It can work with (A) all of the interesting new apps on Android/iOS and also (B) with NMEA marine electronics like MFDs.
This is the first anemometer designed for sailboats; the innovative blade shape maintains equal wind speed accuracy when sailing heeled over (unlike standard cup, ultrasonic and propeller anemometers). The wind cups turn into propellers as the boat heels.
The wireless wind data is sent to apps in a smartphone/tablet, where all combinations of True and Apparent Wind Direction, Angle and Speed are available (in Magnetic North and True North reference), since the smartphone has an excellent GPS in it.
The SailTimer Wind Instrument™ transmits on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), which is a revolutionary new transmission format. It is the first wireless format that can be supported solely by small solar panels, without needing wiring or to be plugged into a wall. Bluetooth uses digital transmissions (unlike systems that use analog radio transmissions and cannot transmit to smartphones/tablets and apps.)
Better features and lower price ($549.99). You can get the Wind Instrument and accessories from multiple vendors at Walmart.com, Amazon.com and now at Best Buy Canada (USA to follow), or directly from the company.
Lots of innovations
The Wind Instrument works with lots of great apps on iOS and Android The MID Wifi app can show True and Apparent Wind Angle on the same display. The blue area gets wider if the wind is more variable.
Wireless, so easier to install because no wires to run down the mast. For boats of all sizes. Solar-powered, so will generate its own renewable power indefinitely. That’s great for small boats, because no 12-volt battery is required. There is a digital compass built right in to the wind direction arrow, so unlike traditional anemometers that only sense wind angle relative to the bow of the boat, the SailTimer can detect wind direction as well as wind angle and wind speed.
A Canadian company, SAILTIMER INC.
Nova Scotia based SailTimer Inc. was founded in 2005 because of a problem with sailboat navigation. If you bought an expensive GPS chartplotter and wanted to know how long it would take to get to a waypoint, the chartplotter (even now) did not account for your tacking distances. That is obviously wrong: sailboats tack to a waypoint, unlike vehicles, aircraft and power boats. But no GPS chartplotter accounts for the tacking distances. The SailTimer™ tacking software solved this problem.
All sailors need wind data though, so in order to make the tacking functions work better in the smartphone apps, around 2011 the company started making the first masthead anemometer that could transmit to smartphones. The company also has the SailTimer Air Link™, an accessory that can receive the Bluetooth transmissions and connect to NMEA wiring to send the wireless data to a GPS chartplotter/Multi-Function Display.

By Andy Adams
Regal Boats’ new LS36 is what we call a day boat. Regal says the LS36 merges their luxury yacht series with their bowrider series and the result is the LS36. This comfortable bowrider is perfect for cruising the lake or hosting friends and family for the day on the weekend.
We feel the styling deserves mention right off the top. This is a big boat at over 37-feet on an 11’7” beam but the clean and almost traditional lines give the LS36 a timeless sporty look that we think, really sets it apart. It’s a Yacht-certified vessel. I counted approximately 21 places for people to sit! You would probably never take a crowd that big but it can certainly handle a gang.
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By Zuzana Prochazka
Every few years, boat builders update their lines with refreshed designs and new features that eventually proliferate throughout their entire offering. Dufour Yachts is in mid-process of such an evolution as the builder changes up their line of sleek sailing cruisers.
One sign of this transformation is the naming convention that is morphing from triple-digit numbers ending with a zero, to simple double-digits that one would guess designates the LOA – more on this later. The latest model in the refresh is the Dufour 37 which replaces the previous Dufour 360.
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I start every article, story or TV segment about boating out of the biggest city in Canada the same way. Citing the multiple people who told me I would “quickly get bored of Toronto harbour” or that “there’s nothing to do in Lake Ontario” and that it was only a matter of time before I moved marinas to a much more appropriate setting just north of the city.
With all due respect to my pals who boat in Georgian Bay, I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon. Next year will be my tenth in Toronto Harbour and I love it more each year.
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Introducing the next graduate in our CYOB marine career path series, Nathanial Stabenow from the East Coast of Canada.
An individual of many hats, Nathanial has had a diverse career in the marine industry taking part in commercial diving, marine navigation, rigging and boat building. He now works as a marine engineer on the LaHave ferry in Nova Scotia. Here is Nathanial’s unique career path.
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‘A chain is only as strong as its weakest link’ is a cliche that is quite applicable in boat maintenance. In a literal sense, a weakest link can apply to an anchor rode, and a weak link in this chain can spell disaster.
Transport Canada specifies the sizes of anchors required in the Canada Shipping Act, detailed more commonly in the Safe Boating Guide:
For Sail and Power boats up to 6 m (19’8”): One (1) anchor and at least 15 m (49’3”) of cable, rope or chain in any combination...
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The Samana 59 Smart Electric is a new sailing catamaran equipped with alternative energy solutions and EODev’s electro-hydrogen REXH2.
To reduce its carbon impact, the Samana 59 Smart Electric has a virtuous energy architecture composed of a REXH2 that can provide up to 70 kW of continuous power, a battery composed of LiFePO4-EVEPOWER (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells of 63kWh integrated by EVE SYSTEM and Alternatives Energies and 42 m2 of “slim” type solar panels that can provide up to 6145 W. This energy mix allows to take advantage of all the embarked renewable energies (solar, wind).
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