Michael wrote:

Not at all. Might be true on a lighter weight hull but it had no effect on
Se Fjern at 26' and even less on Se Lange at 31'. As I've learned height
is everything. The radars placed low down or on short poles are useful for
harbor entrances and the like, not so useful on open ocean situations.

Well, how far do you need to see? Our little old (late 1980s vintage) Furuno
mounted 12' above the waterline can pick up a 30' sailboat or a low sandy
coastline at 16 miles. We had a good chance to get it dialed in (and you're
right, experience makes a BIG difference) on our last cruise up Pamlico to the
Chesapeake and back.


In
this case I have 'weight below to spare. Windage increase would be even more
of an issue but even that is negligible.

Windage plus the tendency of lines & sails to snag on the thing. I'd put it aft
especially if you are already putting on an arch.


I added radar to begin with
because of conditions up here in the Pacific NW. Lots of fog during the
best of the summer sailing system is not uncommon. With the original 12"
radome I found life a lot easier. On the trans-Pac I set the guard system
and it would come on every 15 minutes, do 20 turns and alert me if some
target showed. Like an auto-tilller it's an extra crew member. Down low
it's in the troughs too much and tends to beep off on signals from the tops
of swells and waves. Reduce the seas state sensitivity and it degrades
performance in areas needed.

Very true, but that's one aspect of performance that modern sets are much
better. Having a computer analyze the return signal can tell you all sorts of
things that can't be seen by the Mark 1 eyeball. I don't have very much
experience at all with the new fancy radar sets but at some point we are going
to upgrade.



By adding height you make it a useful tool.
With the original radar I refined the settings based on actual targets.

How high do you have to go to make it 'useful'? I think the latter point is mor
important, to have a reliable set that you have experience with real returns, so
that you know what the radar is showing you. Too many people think of it as
magic and only turn it on in foul weather.

One of the best ways to use it IMHO is around commercial shipping, it tells you
unequivocably what their speed & course are. I also believe in taking visual
bearings but it's nice to have the backup.



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katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

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