Countdown Start Timers

I'm thinking of indulging myself and purchasing a Ronstan RF4030, Clear Start Timer or something similar. What are your thoughts.
Any info would be much appreciated.
Berny

We have a standard Casio Sea Pathfinder watch. It counts down whatever intervals you set it to. It beeps at 2 minutes, 1 minute and 10-9-8.. Works good enough for us, as long as the crew is handling it and tell skipper how much time is left (3 minutes, 2 minutes 1 minute, 45 sec, 30 sec, 20 sec 15 sec. last 10 secs watch is beeping). We much prefer this system instead of having the skipper looking at the watch himself. Skipper need to have his head out of the boat during the start.


Over to your question. We like the option of starting a 5 minute countdown on the 4 minutes flag/sound. I suppose the Ronstan watch can do this.
I have had friends who strapped this watch to the boom loose the watch overboard. Only the strap was left on the boat. This happened twice to the same boat.. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> (dont know if it was operator error, but I dont think so as they are very meticoulous with the boat).

There is nothing better than the Ronstan Clear Start. It is absolutely awesome. I have had nothing but great starts ever since I switched to it.
First of all, the numbers are very large and very easy to see at a glance.., no having to focus on your watch when you should be focusing on the line, your opponents, windshifts, etc.
Second, a great feature is the Sync Button. Suppose you are gulping down some water when the warning gun goes off. You quickly put the water down and hit the button. You know you are off, but by how much.., 4 seconds, 15 seconds? WHo knows? Not a problem. At the next signal, hit the Sync Button and you are right on the money.
Third, you can set the watch to any number of sequences.., i.e., 3 minutes, 5 minutes, or whatever. However, I set my watch to 1 minute, then click on the button until it gets to the timing I want.., local races at 3 minutes and most regattas at 5 minutes. So, three clicks gets me 3 minutes, 5 clicks gets me 5 5 minutes
Fourth, You can set it to keep repeating the sequence, i.e., after counting down from say 3 minutes it goes right back to 3 minutes and continues counting down. If you are RC and have multiple fleets this is a great feature. Or if you are the 3 fleet starting you can set your watch for an earlier fleet and not have to worry about getting the time for your start.
Or you can set it to count down and then count the elapsed time for the event.

You can see it at http://store.catsailor.com/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jnhqlsfrd8

Rick

Great watch! Ditto on what Rick wrote. Two drawbacks are that it can come out of the wristband and it doesn't count hours. Not a big deal, you know who you finish next to and use their hours and your minutes. OR, sail faster.

One big positive is the fun other club members can have with it.

The Ronstan Clearstart is exactly the same as the Ultimate Sailing Timer (different colour). I have the Ultimate. As said before, it can easily come out of its holder - several colleagues have lost more than one overboard. I've wrapped insulating tape around the circumference of the holder and that has solved the problem. The beeper also fails if it gets particularly wet, but dry it out and it's fine again. The display is brilliant and the sync function is its best feature.

They are easy to read, BUT are not very durable. I have been through 2 of them in the last 4 years. Each having been replaced under warranty at least once.

I will not buy another one!!!!

I absolutely LOVE my Ronstan Clear Start. Maybe it is just an old-age thing, but I don't have to wear glasses to see the countdown. My starts have improved tremendously as a result of using it.

However, for the younger folks with better eyes, there is also a very good watch with fairly big numbers that you can get from Walmart for about eight bucks.

I had been using the Garmin foretrex (the wrist mounted GPS) - it has a great start timer with the sync-up and sync-down feature...it suffers from the same problem apparently as I've now lost two because the pins released it from the band.

Now we use a beam-mounted tac-tick compass for the countdown feature and keep a watch onboard as a backup.

Jake, that's not the big honker is it? I thought the big Tactic things were not for buoy racing... Are you referring to a smaller version? And if so, can it pick up shifts?

Nah...it's the small "compass only" version although it does have a feature where you can train it the mean wind direction and it will use that as "zero" (instead of true north). That way you don't have to remember a ton of numbers and do math in yo head. It's still rediculously expensive though.

The timer can be set to any number of minutes and allows you to sync it to the nearest minute by pressing the set button again. It beeps too but if the wind is over 2mph, there's no way you are going to hear it.

Popping out of the wristband is the only problem I have had with them.., well, not me. Chip Short lost his this past winter. I have never had that problem.

I forgot to mention the sound during countdown.., probably because I can't hear those tones anyway. Senior moments. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

The big selling point for the watch is the large numbers. As most folks get older it becomes harder and harder to see small watches and numbers.., or maybe because our arms aren't long enough. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Rick

The Ultimate Sailing watch (which is how the Ronstan thingy is sold in the UK) is pretty much de rigeur amongst dinghy and cat and yacht sailors at my club. There are a few problems with the waterproofing I think but everyone who has one fail buys another which must say something!

And finally - something that's cheaper in the UK than in the US!

I have been through three of them in 4 years, each time water ingression, replaced under warranty each time even though the last one was 6 months out of warranty period. The units with the back piece held on with 8 screws are much better then the ones held on with 4 (which you probably wont find for sale anymore).
Ronstan made the point when replacing the last one that they should not be hosed down when washing the boat after a sail or located on the boat in a "firehose" position as they dont like being hit by pressurised water. Also exercise care during battery replacement with the packing seal, it is difficult to seat properly.
Ronstan Start Timer is the best I have used by far and Ronstan have been outstanding with the warranty issues, they even express post the replacement timer to my place.
Darryn

Foretrex 201

Has big numbers and an adjustable timer with beeps every minute and during the last 10 secs and can be adjusted when you've missed the gun.
I wear it around my upper arm so it doesn't get in the way and get stuck behind things.
Almost the same price as the Ronstan, and (almost) the same timer functions - oh, and it has a gps.

I did that too and still lost two of them. I have the arm bands!

I found a great watch at Walmart of all places for $20. It is a Casio... large display, easy to read.. I have mine set to do a 5 minute Countdown with the auto repeat option. It beaps at each minute, then beaps each second during the last 10 seconds. It is also 100 Meter water resistant and has a 10yr battery. I had a Casio before and loved it... they are almost indestructable. I did switch out the band with "The Band" velco strap. Here is more info:
http://www.casio.com/products/Timepiece/Sports/W753/product/W753-1AV/content/Technical_Specs/
Even if this is not your regular watch, it would pay to buy it as an extra and put in your ditty bag as a backup.

I used a Casio for years. It was great, EXCEPT: when your finger tips get wet and soft, it's difficult to operate the little buttons.

The Ronstan has big numbers and big buttons, IMHO it's the way to go.

Does it count down and then start elasped time as well? The way around this, just starting elasped time, but then there isn't any beeps.

All of those Walmart watches are great if you have good vision. The point is that as you get older, you simply cannot see the numbers.

Walmart also has one for $9.97 that I bought that has big numbers, but when you use it as a countdown, the minutes remain large, but the seconds are small and I cannot read them.
Walmart keeps these models on a rack a bit away from the normal watch area where they have the Casios, etc.
Great watch for everyday, but I cannot use it for a starting watch.

I have never been happier than with a Ronstan.
Rick

I'm sure the Ronstan may be a better choice, especially for open design & distance racing, however the features this Casio has suits my needs. The Ronstan does appear to have a larger display, but this Casio's display was larger than some the other Casios and Timex's that I saw and the seconds do appear as large as the minutes. This particular Casio does not start an elaspe time, but will restart the 5 minute sequence. Since I mainly one-design race H16 and F18s and do very few distance races, I'm never concerned about my elaspe time. I particularly like the alarms in the final 10 secs, so I don't have to rely on an absent minded crew.

All good info, thanks.
In summary, it appears that the Ronstan is a good bit of gear but for a few hang-ups. IMO the price dictates it be better made and I wonder why Ronstan hasn't done more to correct the problems.
I've owned a few expensive Casio watches, now living in DJ's locker due to poor band durability. Casio were not keen to provide any warranty for this bad feature so Ronstan are ahead in this area but the inconvenience is still a pain.
I might have a look at Woolworth's (no Wal-Mart here) for an elcheapo for the moment and save my pennies for an RF4030, Clear Start.

I'm a fan of the Timex Ironman watches--numbers and buttons are pretty big. You can set a 5 min. countdown as well. Timex also has some other models with large numbers--not as large as the Ronstan, but all under $25 and very durable.

As for losing watches due to the band, the first thing you should do with any watch that has a band pinned on each end is take off the supplied band and replace it with one that goes under each pin and attaches to itself (velcro bands are excellent). That way when a pin breaks you don't lose the watch.., it will still be held by the other pin.

That gives you time to take the watch off and put it in your pocket.

By the way, another good feature of Ronstan's watch.., it has a band that is complete unto itself and goes under the pins and not attached at each end. You won't lose the watch due to a pin letting go.
Rick

The garmin has an individual connection to each pin - and for one of the units I lost, I still have the pins ... one was in the velcro arm band and the other I found on the trampoline (not the gps unfortunately).

I use the Casio Sea Pathfinder, after using 2 Optimate/Ronstan and 2 Musto watches. The Casio is half the price of the Optimate and a third of the price of the Musto - I like "boys toys" and couldn't face getting a cheap "kids watch", but the Casio is the best for me. It has reasonably large numbers, can be started at 5 mins and reset easily (psuedo-synched) at four, and these intervals are easily changed. But best of all, it hasn't leaked (as the Optimate/Ronstans did), nor has the glass been smashed as happened to both my Musto's. This is a case where cheaper is definitely better - for what I spent on my previous watches I can buy 5 Casios... but I haven't needed to. Its weakness is that the buttons can be knocked, suspending the countdown - but I haven't missed a start yet that I can blame on the watch.

I use a garmin foretrex 201 , but as Jake has found to cost don't rely on pins !!!!, first time out I lost one and nearly the unit , a friend lost hers first time - both pins came out , and another two folk in my club have lost pins very quickly , all now strap to boat with tape around unit itself , I sometimes use a neoprene arm band with mylar window intended for a mp3 player which does the job , buttons can still be pressed through neoprene.

I told Garmin about their "serious " design flaw and offered the neoprene arm band solution, they didn't seem too concerned though,as they didn't consider it a problem , they offered to replace my unit which I accepted but its no different , my friend who lost hers completely was given a new one too .

A while back some brave soul brought this matter to attention on Yachts and yachtings website in UK , but the thread was removed by Y & Y and soul dissapeared into ether , perhaps as Garmin advertise with Y & Y !

or am I being sceptical ??? !

If anyone has a 201 and loses pins let Garmin know , perhaps they wil then recognise this flaw in an otherwise great unit.

Optimumtime from England came out with a new wrist watch identical to the big yellow one (I think they also make the red Ronstan one) same functions but can also be used as wrist watch. sold many with no complaints so far...
Ziv - Hobie Cat Israel

set to 5-3 with sync option, bips every minute, on 15 secs to start bips once every second, on 10 twice and on 5 secs bips 3 times until start when you get a long bip.
there really no need to take your eyes of your boat...
the new model dont have any problems of poping out of bracket cause there isnt one.
never had water problems with it since i mostly use it racing tacticat.com hahahaha
z

Are you using that on your starts in Tacticat? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />