After writing the last blog entry(see story about Hasket Hildreth), I started to think about the simpler times in sailing when we didn’t have a thousand digital outputs, computers, global positioning systems and everything else we now rely on to go sailing. Everyone has a “go to” device that they count on each time they go out to race. Vote now and lets see which of your instruments or data sets is the most important.

My “go to” instrument is True Wind Angle. For tactical reasons this is the most important piece of data that I rely on to make quick informed decisions that will make a huge difference in the race. True Wind Angle data makes every tactical decision on the race course quick and accurate, it tells you when there has been a wind shift of the course. The data can help at mark roundings, crossings, whether to change direction and at the start, all places where big gains can be made. However, most boats under 35 feet don’t have a sophisticated system that is able to output this data. Therefore the compass and pencil often have to suffice for keeping track of the wind and when all else fails “use the force Luke”.