No GPS?
This one seems a no brainer, but then a lot of things seem to be no brainers turn out to simply be no brains. This week’s question is courtesy of anarchist KU-3 and is brought to you, conveniently enough by Velocitek. Be sure to check out their brand new SpeedPuck.
The E-Scow fleet will be voting on various proposals starting January 9th. Included is a motion to ban GPS based devices "that indicate real-time speed, position and vectoring." The two reasons presented in the minutes were "some thought equipment like the Velocitek SC-1 was considered outside assistance under Rule 41, and others felt the cost ($400) was high during the 5 year experiment moratorium that came with the asymmetrical vote."
If this fleet is considering GPS data outside assistance, what impact does that have on other fleets?
Do you in the sailing community feel GPS satellite transmissions are outside assistance? Is there already a ruling on that subject somewhere?
Has anyone found any benefit in lake sailing to having VMG calculations or any other calculations without apparent or true wind data available?
Finally, is the price truly prohibitive, or even different than an electronic magnetic-based compass like a TacTic? Jump on in.
