Has anyone used these markers for catamaran courses? I really like the design but I am worried they will be too hard to spot from distance with waves and sunlight. If anyone has any feedback that would be wonderful!

Cheers

Dazz.

Pretty cool concept, but what happens when somebody runs over it?

Goodbye mark.

Definitely does not sink, I actually rang them in NZ about a few things, they said they had left a buoy off the coast for a few weeks and had reports of dolphins trying to sink it (well play sink jump on.. whatever), but it never sank.

If it got a hole in it at the top then I am sure it would head straight for the bottom.

From the point of view of the guys in the rescue boats there is a lot to like, just have to make sure the guys who have to find them (ME) can spot them easily enough.

I did a distance race around Guichen Bay at Robe last year and they had the tallest of those buoys. I think they're terrific and were getting at least one, the marks were set in no time and were visible from way off, I believe they have some inbuilt flotation but if you were worried about loosing it you could have a length of rope with a small buoy attatched to the anchor chain.

Anything that leans over will simulate a distant sailing boat and be hard to see from afar.
The best racing markers don't look anything like a boat. Black is a better colour on some days.

The 'chuck it over the side' system is ok for some race marks, but if it needs to be positioned accurately [start or gate], it needs to be towed by its anchor 1st. Don't know how these buoys will react to being towed about by a rib. Might be ok.

Nice idea if your race course is a long way from the club, the RIBS don't have to tow monster marks all the way. This is the source of more damage than normal use.

Most clubs I've been a PRO with don't tow their marks - for just that reason. They equip their mark boats with inflators (I've even seen one with a gas-powered leaf blower ) and they inflate them once they get to their rough position.

For the Tradewinds, we had no backup marks. Luckily, no one speared a mark.
This would be awesome for backup marks, easily carried on small runabouts.
Where can you get them, and how much, I wonder?
Rick

http://www.aflextechnology.com/marker-buoy.php

They don't have any pricing or ordering info on their website.

awww com'on matt ... that never happens. ;-)

I did the Robe race yesterday with the 6 foot 600 x 600 ones, they were easy to find, from about 1 naughtical mile they look like something swinging on the water and don't look like a boat. They stood upright in 18kt with 28kt gusts and didn't drag with besser blocks holding them. Theres no inbuilt inflation, if they hole they sink. The waves didn't seem to affect them much, probably because theres not much buoy under the water
Heres the quote I got in August from Alflex in NZ


Straight Sides MB-003-00 600 mm 600 mm 1800mm 5kg $350

Straight Sides MB-005-00 300mm 300mm 1700mm 4kg $300

Tapered Sides MB-007-00 300mm 750mm 1800mm 5kg $350


Custom sizes are available on request A variety of colours are available.
Prices do not include freight
12kgs of ballast chain per buoy is sold separately $50 + GST & freight

www.aflextechnology.com email:admin@aflextechnology.com PH 1800147 017

Those marks do look pretty cool.

I think these would be good for small boats, but like Matt said, if they're hit by something large enough, they're probably going south pretty quickly. And, if someone decided to mount one with a cat (between the hulls), I'd expect the same result.

We also have a zero-tow policy, but the worst damage is actually caused by dragging a mark on the ground, especially pavement.

The best inflators I've seen are Black&Decker cordless leaf blowers. No gas/fumes/starting issues to deal with, and since the blower tube can be removed and left ashore, they take up very little space on a boat. More power than you'd ever need. We always take spare batteries, at least for the weather mark boat.

Mike

Found them in use at the paper tigers nats in NZ, you can see one at the 10 second mark.

We are going to make up one, i doubt its going to be as high quality as the professional made ones, but for $100AUD it will give us a definitive answer.

As for a clearance marker.. these were ideal at the taipan nats:

I've gone around them on keel boats, and spoken to the guy's who installed them and they couldn't stop raving about them.

My only concern is part of your question, that may be too hard to spot at a distance, just to narrow.

The buoys we have now are 1.4m(4'6in) high and 80cm (2'8in) diameter. the one we are going to make will stand more than 2m out of the water and have a 76cm diameter.

One of the neighboring clubs use them, they said that when they launch them the trick is to put them into the water at a bit of an angle to let more water into them. makes them stand up a lot better. again the guys who have to launch them rave about how much better they are to work with.

with that in mind will give it a go!

That totally sounds like the answer. Having more water in the bottoms of them will probably make them less likely to lose their air if (when) someone runs one over and traps it under a tramp.

It would be nice if you could get ahold of one to test out before you have to commit serious currency. Tie some flotation to it and try all the worst-case things you can think of (short of cutting it, of course) and see what happens. It would be even better for the company to do that themselves and add it to their promo videos.

Mike

If the SIM buoys are not standing up straight, try adding a little more weight to the ballast, because standing up straight is all about air pressure in the buoy.

Martin