what about a $200 waterproof pentax w60 screwed onto a bent bit of tin that's screwed on to the front of an old bicycle helmet?
that can work as a reasonable helmet cam
put it in a small box surrounded by microcell foam with holes cut for straps to it can go on booms, beams and masts
that can work as as a remote cam
and once you pull it off the helmet or out of the box it's a rugged family digicam that can be used in the pool or at the beach
olympus make some very tough waterproof digicams for video but
the waterproof pentax optio series, w20, w30, w60, w80 can take interval photos, from once every 10sec (up to whatever) until the card fills up or the battery runs out
http://www.camrig.com/kitecam.php#whichCamerawhich is why they are popular with kitecams
http://www.camrig.com/kitecam.php8gb cards don't get to fill up
or they can take 30min videos with a delayed start, say 15minutes, so you can get out to your favorite sailing spot
but i usually just start recording before i get on the boat
after 30minutes you can reach up, start the camera again and then do another 30minutes
the quality of the w60 video at 640 pixels and 30frames per sec. is as good as pretty much anything else
made these cat sailing videos on vimeo with it
http://vimeo.com/user1877838/videos and the 1st 3 of these on your tube
http://www.youtube.com/user/eric3810101#p/uhaven't posted the link to the virtual weta trimaran video here before as i only made it a couple of days ago
if you've got a good connection and computer with lots of memory try the HD version in full screen
the video direct from the camera is far smoother than seen on youtube. vimeo better in that respect. (vimeo, "cool cat on a lake" was shot at 1280pix 15fps and seems smoother than than the weta videos shot at 30fps
presumably the online host takes the ax to the frame rate to save memory???
http://www.youtube.com/user/eric3810101#p/u/0/u-kFg4cncnAnext season i hope to get some videos from the top of the nacras mast and from the prod on the weta
if you have an lcd hd wide tv you mght want to pony up for the new w80 as it can do 1280pixels at 30fps
http://catalog.ebay.com/Pentax-Optio-W80-12-1-Megapixel-/74841813
