Calling all Techies!! :o)

[Bosun Higgs]

Welcome to the forum. As an American on ybw, you are one of a select small group and likely to hear in "the Lounge" all our prejudices about your government plus a bit of left wing anti Americanism. Ignore it. We love you really!

So, for starters ... what do you think about my one brand idea? Do you have any recommendations? And, is there anything I should definitely steer clear of?

THANKS!
-Greg

There are two issues with getting all the kit from one manufacturer. They are:
1/ No manufacturer does the best kit for every individual function
2/ What do you do subsequently when someone other than your chosen maker brings out something you fancy?

But you have other decisions to make. For example, PC based chartplotting has significant advantages over dedicated marine plotters and is developing fast. Do you go this route or chose a plotter from ( say) Garmin. And if you do chose a marine plotter, whose chart system do you use. It's all a matter of personal choice so the best route in my view is to wait until a boat show and then spend a day going round the electronics stands.

Personally, I have a lot of Raymarine gear plus a Simrad autohelm. But I use paper charts because I like them and they are much easier for planning .

With a J109 I think my first spend would be on some new racy sails rather than electronics.

 

[Twister_Ken]

With a J109 I think my first spend would be on some new racy sails rather than electronics.

With a J109 I think racy sails are a given! What I'd do before worring about electricks is give it to a shipwright and ask him to build a comfortable cruising interior §

 

[Donner74]

Thanks for the reply Grumpy, TK and BH!

"We love you really! "

"No manufacturer does the best kit for every individual function"

"PC based chartplotting has significant advantages over dedicated marine plotters and is developing fast."

"With a J109 I think my first spend would be on some new racy sails rather than electronics."

With regard to above, first HA! I greatly appreciate you allowing me pull from the vast pool of knowledge you have across the pond! I will do my best not to make any pro-American statements, discuss politics or debate the need for the letter "u" or "s" over "z".

BH you really nailed my main concern. When I think about going with all one manufacturer I do feel like I might miss out on the "best of breed" if you will, on a certain piece of tech. That said, one of the reasons I am leaning toward Simrad is that in my research (some of which Grumpy mentioned) I have found that it seems to be closely affiliated with Lowrance and B&G, are able to share technology with relative ease, and all three companies also seem to have made some significant strides technologically in the last year or so too, so I am hoping that if they don't have the very best in a certain option, they still have a strong offering.

I agree PC plotting seems to have a lot to offer as well, and on this point I think I will get the best of both worlds since I do run MacENC on my laptop and iNavX on my iPad. Yes, I am all Mac, a decision my wife and son lead me to at Lego-gunpoint. Anyway, I am rarely without my laptop when I'm on the boat, so I'll definitely be using both.

Haha. Sadly I don't do as much racing as I should ... I know, sacrilege! Using North Sails currently which are awesome ... I just wish their customer service was a bit better! A conversation for another time!