Blog
Testing, product development other stuff we think you might find interesting …..
Understanding Yacht Polars, VPP and Boat Performance
Understanding how fast your boat should actually go is key to making sure you get the most out of it. If you’ve ever wondered why speed over ground (SOG) isn’t the best guide to fast sailing or why some trips just feel sluggish despite good wind, then dive into polars and VPPs—tools that...
Sailing Jengu Upwind – Reworking The London Corinthian Playbook
Having a game plan that allows you to repeat a process is vital if you are going to improve your overall sailing performance. We are proud to have been long-standing members of the London Corinthian Sailing Club – for longer than we care to admit. Over the years, the club has seen a surge in...
Lesson Learned – Not all Cardinal Marks Are Lit
First RORC race of the year, the De Guingand Bowl, out of the way over the weekend. A gentle, 100-mile, light airs race to Poole and back via Bembridge and St Catherines point. As a crew and skipper we learned a couple of things. Lesson One:...
Taking the Rockit Track Panel For A Spin
Review Race Performance Watch us explore our collected race data in real time on Rockit …… there is no sound track ! Take the Rockit 2023 Edition track panel for a...
The Rock – Part Two – To Furl Or Not To Furl
….stupid title must think of a better one for the next article… So in the last article I talked about the Fastnet Race and what was involved for the crew. We are now one month into our campaign. Our boat is back in the water and we have had a couple of weekends out on the water so we know what...
The Rock – Part One
The Race This year is the 50th edition of the Fastnet race. Its run every two years. The first race was won by Jolie Brise in 1925. Jolie Breeze is still very actively sailed on the UK South Coast. This will be the second time that the race has been sailed from Cowes to Cherbourg via the...
On The Importance Of Keeping Slime Away
Something to think about for the summer. Where are you leaving your boat between regattas and what will be living on the bottom when you get back to it ? Weed and other marine wildlife, whose main aim in life sometimes seems to be to slow us down, grow at different rates depending on a whole...
Collecting NMEA Data With Fewer Wires
When we originally developed Rockit we used various rough and ready methods to get data into the Laptop we were using to run the software. Back then, circa 2016, cue a certain amount of nostalgia, we used to connect things together by twisting wires; all the things you aren’t supposed to do to...
Racing To The Lonely Tower And Back
A Bit Of Nab Tower History For those of you that don’t know the Solent the Nab Tower is a large navigation mark in the Eastern approaches to Portsmouth. It has an interesting history. It was originally designed as one of a series of forts to be built across th e English Channel during World War...
I want to go fast every time !
In the last post we talked about the need to know when you are really going fast; not just thinking you are going fast. If we know when we are fast should we not be able to work out exactly what we are doing to make the boat go fast ? As we described in the last blog post we can record boat...
So how do you know what fast actually looks like ?
We all know the feeling, we hit the top of a wave the boat surfs, accelerates then goes quiet, everyone watches the numbers on the mast instruments and at that point you set the highest speed score for the day. You put a score on the board for everyone else who helms the boat that day to...
What Is VMG ?
We’ve haven’t written anything here for a while so this is us getting back into the habit… VMG (Wind) - Distance travelled towards the wind divided by time. VMG appears on a lot of marine instrument systems but is in our opinion not well understood. The standard definition is; VMG = Velocity...