Southeast Sailboats

Updated October 2024.

When the ILCA Rule 22 change came into effect in 2018 allowing the use of electronic compasses, the Raymarine MicroCompass (more commonly known as the ‘TackTick’) quickly became the default choice amongst most of the top sailors – driven in part by the fact that when the rule change came into effect it was, alongside the Nautalytics simple compass, the only choice. Around a year later the Velocitek PRISM was released – a state of the art compass .  Now (8th October 2024) a new compass - the SailTeck - has just been added to the list of ILCA Class legal compasses.  

Above - left to right - Raymarine MicroCompass; Velocitek PRISM; SailTeck.  All shown on the optional CarbonParts mounting bracket.

How do you decide between these four ILCA Rule 22 approved compasses? This article looks at the factors involved, but first why choose an electronic compass? Over the last 6 years the majority of sailors have moved from analogue to electronic. At the Paris Olympics all 20 medal race competitors were using either the PRISM or the TackTick.  Electronic compasses are smaller, lighter, but it is the ease of reading that is the main reason – the digital display is much clearer than the graduations on an analogue compass, isn’t subject to the variation dependent upon viewing angle, and is faster to respond to heading change. All these lead to electronic compasses having greater useable accuracy which make it far easier to see heading changes.

So, what are the factors that need to be considered in deciding which electronic compass is right for you?

MODE – The first and maybe the most important factor is whether you want to use your compass in tactical or heading mode. The vast majority of analogue compasses used on the ILCA had a tactical scale (normally with a secondary 0-360 scale), which divided up the 360 deg scale into 20 or 24 segments. This in theory, gives you the same or similar number on either upwind tack meaning that it easier to remember – for example 2 on starboard/2 on port (for the Plastimo), or 2/12 (for the Silva/Nexus). The secondary 0-360 scale helped with head to wind and line bias. These analogue compasses assumed an 90 degree angle between tacks. In theory fine, but the tacking angle on the ILCA is dependent on the wind strength, is affected by wave skew and any ‘tide wind’ generated by current flow. So your tacking angle may not be 90 degrees and may be also skewed relative to the true wind direction from one tack to the other.

The TackTick and now the SailTeck are the only two compasses ILCA approved electronic compasses to offer a tactical mode, and the tacking angle can be adjusted on the water to get the same numbers on each tack. However, it still assumes a constant angle from one tack to the other, so if there is skew from one tack to the other the numbers displayed won’t reflect the true wind direction. In tactical mode the sensitivity can be adjusted, with most sailors choosing 5 degrees to avoid being distracted by minor shifts.

Some top sailors use the TackTick in tactical mode and others in heading mode. However, I believe that the complexity of using tactical mode simply and effectively, especially when electronic compasses offer greater useable accuracy, has resulted in more sailors moving from tactical mode to heading mode.

Heading mode displays the bearing that the boat is travelling on, so the numbers on one tack are very different from the other and as a result there are two ranges of numbers to remember (or write on the boom)! All four compasses offer heading mode. One potential downside of heading mode on the TackTick, PRISM and Nautalytics compasses is that they display 1 degree heading changes which means that in reality the display is changing a lot. You need to make sure that you are not looking at the compass too much! The PRISM compass does have an adjustable damping rate to help this aspect – the greater the damping value the smoother the heading change will be, as it slows down the response to a change in heading - this is especially important in large waves.  The SailTeck compass is unique in that you can adjust the step size from 1 to 5 degrees to avoid being distracted by minor shifts.

TIMER – The rule change also allowed the use of a countdown timer to be integrated with the compass. This is a feature that is included in the TackTick, Nautalytics and SailTeck compasses. The timer on the Nautalytics and SailTeck is simple to use, with a sync function that syncs down to the next minute like most sailing watches. However you may find using the timer mode on the TackTick confusing as the sync function works differently (it syncs to the nearest minute, so it may sync up rather than down). Some people use the timer functions on these two compasses but when the timer is running you can’t see heading information unless you manually change modes. When the timer reaches zero the TackTick compass reverts to the tactical or heading mode that you were in. The Nautalytics reverts to its heading mode.  The SailTeck is the best if you want an integrated timer function.  It has a two line display, so that you can see the compass function on the top line of the display, and the countdown on the lower line.

DISPLAY – The size and readability of the display is another important factor. The relatively small display on the TackTick probably reflects the age of the design. The viewing angle is also quite small meaning that if you are either sitting in the cockpit in very light airs and looking down, or doing a head to wind and looking straight at the compass from the middle of the cockpit, you will find it difficult to read. The display on the PRISM is both larger and has a far better viewing angle and a non-reflective coating. The display size on the SailTeck is also larger and similar in size to the PRISM. The single very large display on the Nautalytics is probably the clearest, but it is a large compass in comparison with the lower profile, sleeker TackTick and PRISM.

If you sail using polarised sunglasses the display on the TackTick is like a lot of LCD’s, unreadable. Only the PRISM, SailTeck and Nautalytics are compatible with polarised glasses.

BATTERIES – All three compasses have inbuilt batteries recharged via solar cells. The Nautalytics batteries are cost effectively replaceable. The earlier PRISM compasses had replaceable batteries.  From early 2021 to mid 2023 PRISM compasses were totally sealed and batteries are not replaceable.  The latest generation of PRISM compasses have a USB charging port as a backup in case solar charging hasn't been sufficient to keep the battery charged or you have had it stored away for months.  The SailTeck compass relies on an oversized solar cell to ensure that it stays charged even in poor sunlight.

MOUNTING – From a mounting perspective, for the popular TackTick there are a number of mountings available from third party manufacturers such as CarbonParts. The SailTeck compass will also fit the CarbonParts EC2 mounting. For the PRISM mountings are available from CarbonParts and Velocitek. For the Nautalytics the manufacturer offers a mounting. Most sailors choose to mount the compass as far forward as possible without fouling the vang fitting or deck blocks, with the control lines running through the mounting so that if it does become dislodged during sailing the compass stays on the boat! If you want to mount it in front of the mast, attach a security line or, if you run your centreboard elastic to the bow eye, pass that through the mount. Most mounts attach using 3M DualLock – best described as a sort of industrial strength Velcro – it really works.

So how do you choose between these electronic compasses?

About Southeast Sailboats…
Southeast Sailboats is a leading supplier of world class control line systems and electronic compass / mountings for the ILCA/Laser. We supply the PRISM, SailTeck and TackTick ILCA Rule 22 compasses and associated mountings and we deliver worldwide.

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A question that we get asked a lot.  Is the new Ronstan kicker/vang lower assembly any better than the Harken assembly?  I have provided my thoughts in previous newsletters but I thought it was about time to ask Micky Beckett his thoughts – he has sailed with the Harken assembly day-in/day-out for over a decade, but has recently switched to the Ronstan lower.  Why?  Read on…

“Ronstan have recently introduced a new class legal vang (kicker) base unit, as an alternative to the existing Harken unit which has been around for some time. The immediate difference is a more compact set-up, with the 4 turning-points and cleat contained in a much smaller piece of hardware. The matt-black finish looks quite smart too.

The achilies heel of the Harken block was always the single block that the primary line ran through, which was insufficient for the load it was carrying and so contributed to the lion’s share of the friction – which for a system that is often used as a 15:1 setup – there is already plenty of. This has been replaced by a wider diameter block which provides a much lower-friction turning point. The other main change is that there are there are two small blocks to carry the secondary line out of the unit through the cleat, rather than having a single block then a fairlead which would cause a large amount of friction when you pulled the kicker line at any kind of angle to the boom (e.g just before rounding the leeward mark).

These two changes do amount to the vang being a lower friction system, which is a good thing. There are occasional moments where the two side blocks for the secondary line protrude out and interrupt the outhaul or downhaul which run next to it, which whilst inconvenient isn’t disastrous. Equally there has to be a crossover in the threads of the secondary line due to the changed position of the blocks; annoying but not prohibitively so.

On balance the block is, not surprisingly, an improvement, and in the time I’ve been using it hasn’t showed and signs of breakage or undue wear.”Micky Beckett

The only thing that I would add to what Micky has said is that I have found the Ronstan unit to be much easier to uncleat than the Harken, especially when you have a lot of kicker on.  I had a ‘scary moment’ a few weeks ago coming into a crowded windward mark on the port layline, where the combination of my weaker/golfers elbow left arm struggled to uncleat it whilst I was concentrating on the line of starboard tack boats just ahead!!

We stock the Harken and Ronstan lower assemblies and also have a wide range of fully rigged kicker/vang systems using both the Harken and Ronstan lower assemblies.

“It’s been a really busy year so far with the Olympics fast approaching. Starting it off in Argentina for the Worlds was amazing!  Massive waves made for epic sailing and Argentina’s hospitality was incredible. I ended up in 16^th overall and despite this being one of my best Senior performances so far, I couldn’t help but think about what I had lost out on the final day of fleet racing as I had dropped from the top 10.

Shortly after, I received a call to say our Olympic trials had ended. I was really gutted to hear that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to compete again for the 2024 spot. With it being my first trials, it was a whirlwind of emotions – disappointment, yes, but also a strange sense of relief. The weight of expectation lifted, replaced by some clarity.  And after a couple weeks of reflecting, I was soon excited by the opportunity to learn as much as I could from the lead up to the Games which I will take onto the next Olympic cycle.

It has been really cool to continue working hard with my teammates Daisy Collingridge and Hannah Snellgrove as we push and help Hannah as much as possible towards a medal this summer. It’s an exciting time to work with each other without the trials looming over us. We have all been training hard over the last few months and I had been really looking forward to racing at the World Cup in Palma.

This event is almost as big as the World Championships, drawing in all the top ILCA sailors, making it a key competition in the calendar. It was also the final major competition ahead of the Olympics where every nation with their top sailors would be attending. I was really excited by this opportunity to compete against everyone really pushing ahead of the Games. I managed to kick off the week with a race win in proper survival conditions – massive waves and wind averaging over 25kts!!

The following few days saw some light to medium strength conditions. After day 2, I found myself wearing the red bib - this was only the second senior regatta I’d been in a medal position!  My coach told me I had to go and make it one better and we joked the blue bib would suit our BST kit much better. The next day was the first day of Gold fleet so racing became even tighter and harder with the top sailors in one fleet. And with a solid day I managed to do it, I was going into day 4 wearing the blue bib!

Day 4 proved to be a tricker, lighter day where I struggled but remained in the top 10, tight on points. Going into Day 5 I knew I needed two top 15s to keep myself in the top 10 ahead of the medal race. Race 1 I finished 14^th only to discover I had been called over the line in the race. With a UFD on my score line I knew I had to just go out and smash the final fleet race of the regatta. The wind had slightly picked up and we were back to hiking. I can’t remember the last time I’ve hiked so hard in a race with max power in the rig just thinking I need to send it!  I crossed the finish line in 3^rd and had made it into my first ever Medal race!!!!

Not only had I made it into the medal race, but I was going into it in 4^th place with the potential of moving up to a medal position. That evening, I was reading up on all the different rules for medal racing in preparation for the next day. It’s times like these where it is so cool to have such talented and experienced sailors in my team. I was messaging both Hannah and Micky Beckett for any tips or different rules to be aware of and they both were super helpful and kept me calm going into the race!

Medal race day begins with an inspection of our boats by the measurers. The boat park feels very different with only you and your nine competitors lined up next to each other. After measuring we were quickly postponed due to a lack of wind and 5 hours later they launched us! A light breeze had filled it which made it very good medal race conditions for some boat-on-boat action. I switched on my focus for the racing and before I knew it we were off. I had a tricky 1^st upwind putting me in 6^th in the race but there was still lots to play for with us all so close together. After a good gate decision, I was up to 2^nd in the race and manage to finish there. After all the others finished and a bit of maths with my coach we worked out I had moved up to 3^rd. I had just won my first Senior medal!!

It was so nice to come back ashore and have so many friends, teammates and competitors come up and say well done. With our sport being so competitive on the water, it’s really cool to see the support we all have for one another once ashore. It was a quick turnaround to the prize giving which was held under the stunning Cathedral in the centre of Palma. I will be reliving these incredible moments of the last week for a long time! It’s great to see all the hard work coming together and proving to myself I can be at the top of our fleet.

It isn’t long now until I head to Hyeres for the French Olympic week. It’s a bit of a different set up this year with limited entries as the Last Chance regatta for nations looking to qualify for the Games is also happening at the same time. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to another week of tight racing. Then next stop Marseille! We will be training in the Olympic venue all summer to support Hannah in the build-up to the Olympics. Thank you as always to Max at Southeast Sailboats who has supported me for 5 years now and has always believed in me!"

Many thanks Matilda!

Photo credit: Sailing Energy