We were invited aboard the new Clipper 70
to put the brand new Garmin Quatix marine watch through its paces.
This really is an impressive piece of kit
that can’t be fully appreciated until put on the spot out on the water.
Garmin are really pushing the ‘power of
simple’ and they certainly don’t disappoint with the Quatix. Though packed
intensely with huge amount of features, it’s amazingly simple to use. Think
Nokia 3310 simple. The navigation is via the up, down, back and select buttons,
which even self confessed technophobe Sir Robin Knox-Johnston found childs
play.
Greeted with a Quatix each and a bacon
sandwich to go, we got suited up and headed out in the Solent. The weather was
less than favourable but the large buttons allowed us to keep our winter gloves
on and get stuck in.
Whilst motoring out to the Solent, our
friends at Garmin were able to give us a quick run down of the Quatix’s unique
features. After turning on the watch’s GPS feature, it immediately displayed
course over ground, speed over ground and some nifty tidal information.
With just a few button presses, we were
then streaming NMEA 2000 data via the Garmin GNT10 wireless transmitter; being
able to view depth, speed through water and wind information on your wrist
whilst being mobile around the boat is such a powerful feature that really puts
the Quatix ahead of the rest. It will soon become indispensible for
single-handers. Another feature that’ll prove invaluable for the single-handed
sailor is the ability to control a Garmin autopilot from your wrist. And if
that’s not quite enough, wirelessly connect with an iPad®2, iPhone® 5 or iPhone
4s for use with BlueChart® Mobile. How did we cope before?
The Quatix really started to show off with
its virtual start line technology. After some impressive maneouvering under
motor by our skipper, Ben, in a full flow of tide, our crew of 18 all pinged
the two startline GPS waypoints to provide the watch with a virtual startline.
The experienced Clipper bowman, Tom, gave the boat lengths to the startline
with correlated to our watch startline distances within a foot or two which
gives testament to his capabilities and showed the watch could hold its own.
After crossing the startline, the watch automatically switches to tack-assist
mode.
We didn’t get to put it to the test (no
willing volunteers), but the MOB detection is a feature that will send an alert
to the chartplotter if if a crewmember wearing a Quatix falls overboard. Once
home and dry, the watch can be charged by USB, and with With HomePort™ marine
planning software (sold separately), you can plan or review your adventures
from your Windows® or Mac OS® computer. Create your course and download it to
quatix, compare your previous races and analyse your performance.
As well as these features we chose to
highlight, there are many more such as: automatically calibrating altimeter and
barometer, 3-axis compass, temperature sensor, hunt and fish calendar, sun and
moon information, tide tables, area calculation, base map, 16hrs battery life,
waterproof to 50m, custom points of interest and up to 1000 waypoints. We’re
just disappointed it won’t butter our toast.
Many thanks to Clipper Ventures and Garmin
for treating us to a fantastic day out aboard the clipper 70, a was a brilliant
opportunity to get to know the brilliant Quatix. The first leg of the Clipper
Around the World Race starts this August. The Garmin Quatix Marine watch is
available at Force 4 now.
Hannah Wardell & Leigh Jacobs.
