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
Over the years Canadian Yachting has had the pleasure of doing several boat review articles on new Neptunus models and we are familiar with the qualities that Neptunus is famous for. They have all been exceptional yachts, but this is the one I would most want to own myself. It’s a personal choice and a matter of taste as to whether you would prefer to have a sedan express model or a flybridge but in my opinion, the flybridge layout offers some wonderful attributes.
We met with Neptunus Managing Director Jan Willem De Jong this past fall to take the new Neptunus 650F out in Lake Ontario.
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By Mark Stevens
I was first seduced by the United States Virgin Islands during a ferry ride from St. Thomas to Tortola to begin one of our earliest British Virgin Islands charters nearly twenty years ago.
A perfect sunset off St. John with St. Thomas views for backdrop.
Clearing Pillsbury Sound, surrounded by voluptuous emerald mountains as the ferry sliced through royal blue waters, I was struck by the unspoiled ambiance of St. John, the island gliding past our starboard beam and the irresistible charm of a village called Cruz Bay visible from our quarter stern.
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Story and photos by Matt Bera
We settled Svala into what my family and I had come to think of as the most desirable anchorage on Lake Ontario, on a sunny summer afternoon. With an abandoned settlement, an old schoolhouse full of swallows, giant snakes and a rum-running past, Main Duck Island had it all.
That we had to sail past the Psyche Shoal, a magnetic disturbance, and into the middle of the rumoured Marysburgh Vortex made an even better sea story. It had taken us two attempts, two years, two boats and a new sort-of experimental engine to get there.
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By Zuzana Prochazka
Never chartered? No problem. Here’s how to plan, execute and enjoy a vacation on a charter yacht where life is easy and the sunsets can’t be beat.
Decide on a crewed or bareboat charter
A crewed charter means you have a captain who manages the boat and maybe a chef or mate as well. Crewed charters ensure a safe and comfortable vacation with most everything done for you. The chefs are usually outstanding so if you’re a foodie, you’ll be in heaven and you may be able to pick up new recipes too. Larger crewed yachts may also have a mate who works with the captain and will do things like getting toys (kayaks, SUPs, snorkel gear, etc.) ready for you to use so you do very little work.
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On November 15th 2022, Mercury Marine, a division of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC), introduced the industry’s first ever V10 outboard with the official launch of its all-new 5.7L 350 and 400hp Verado® outboard engines.
Consistent with the award-winning Verado brand, the new V10 engines are the quietest and smoothest in their class running 45 percent quieter than a leading competitor at cruise. In addition to NVH, the new Verado’s are not only compatible with the latest Mercury SmartCraft® technologies but will also be offered with an optional dual-mode 48V/12V alternator to seamlessly pair with Navico Group’s Fathom® e-power system, an integrated lithium-ion auxiliary power management system, providing boaters the opportunity to eliminate an onboard generator system.
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