The Race: 40 miles downwind on the Columbia River from Cascade Locks, Oregon to The Dalles, Oregon.
It is a 40 mile West to East course in an area of typically strong prevailing Westerlies.
This year the wind was 20-40 knots! More about the Double Damned Race
Morgan and his team used MotionX-GPS on his Moore 24 sailboat to track the race. It took the them 3 hours and 50 minutes to finish the race for an average speed of 10.44 knots.
This sequence of pictures shows the boat throwing huge spray and then submerging, followed by a near wipe out. They saved the boat from capsizing but as you can see below, their competition was not so lucky.
Morgan and his team blasting along the Columbia River:
Their track in Google Earth. Mount Hood visible on the top right.
The competition wiping out:
“What the MotionX-GPS application does is combine GPS technology with the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer (the technology that senses movement) to create a highly accurate navigational interface.”
– Sailing World, April 2009
The application has all the essentials a racing sailor would want:
-Digital Compass
-Navigation (waypoint input, latitude/longitude, Velocity Made Good, Speed Over Ground, etc.)
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Using MotionX-GPS on the iPhone 3G is a great way to look at your sailing races between each race and at the end of the day. This past weekend two MotionX-GPS user’s sent us their tracks and a few photos. They both use the AquaPac to keep their phones dry all day. Jen has been using MotionX-GPS on her 29er sailing skiff and Daniel on his DN Class iceboat. Daniel says, “I love seeing how fast I went for each race and try to increase my average speed around the race course for each race. MotionX-GPS allows me to compare my results from one race to the next. It is perfect!”
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Tom has been using MotionX-GPS on his boat for navigation. “Navigating safely back to the harbor after sunset is easy with MotionX-GPS. I create a waypoint at the harbor entrance and navigate to it when I want to come back. The Compass screen gives me the bearing to the harbor, course over ground, waypoint distance and ETA so I know when I’ll be back”.
