I have been sailing for many years but 2016 was the first year that I have had a GPS. Now many amongst us might say that this post should be in the GPS and Speed Talk forum but I would say – nah – it’s a general topic. That’s because I am a general sailer (all my gear is free ride)- just out there giving it a crack.
I had thought about getting myself a GPS for a while just to see how far I was sailing in a session but I am just a poor simple tradie who does not understand technology so reading all the forums about the technical stuff just turned me off. But enough pushing by some guys I sail with and I took the plunge. And to be honest I wish I had done it years ago.
The biggest thing that I have noticed is that my sailing session does not end when I get off the water any more but rather when I get home and upload my session. I get to see where I sailed, how far I went and how fast I went. The other thing that I have been doing is collating the data for each sail so I can see where I sailed, on which day and on which gear. Might be a little overboard but hey – I am addicted to this sport. (better than being addicted to the TAB – which is what I keep telling my better half)
So my stats for 2016 are:
Number of days sailed = 64 (although I had GPS issues on 3 of these days so no data) (bloddy work gets in the way)
Total distance sailed = official 2912km’s but due to the 3 days of GPS issues unofficially I did crack 3000 for the year.
Number of different spots sailed = 9
Now I have also gone one step further and kept a track of how much money I spent this year on gear. Again probably overboard and definitely not telling the better half about this stat. My only outlays for the year were -
I bought a new sail, sold a board, bought a new board and bought a new fin.
But than in the last month I have broken a boom (bought a new carbon), broken a mast (bought another one and had my sail repaired) and broken a harness line so my expenditure went up significantly. So taking into account the money I got for the board I sold I am out of pocket $2835. So that’s a bit over $44 / sail. Without the breakages in the last month it would have been more around the $28 so hopefully will be a lot less next year.
So there you have it – if you are thinking about getting a GPS I can say that it certainly adds to the experience!!
That's awesome stuff. Tell me more about your GPS. Sounds like it tracks more than just speed and miles. Does it have a video camera too? Is a GPS anything like a Gopro? Please share.
Your records will be even more precious next year when you can start comparing your speeds/kms/ etc and check your progress. You can see which sail or board was the most used, which location, wind direction etc...I developed this record keeping to a maniacal level, not sure if it helped me improve, but sure gave me motivation and kept me busy on windless days.
Here is a comparison of 2016 with 2015: martignoni.id.au/top10.php?year=2016&compare=2015
every number is a link to the session that produced it, from the session you can click to the location, board, sail and fin to get more info about those ones....
I don't keep spending records anymore because I think that whatever it costs , it is well spent.
Wish a great 2017 to everyone ! 
"So taking into account the money I got for the board I sold I am out of pocket $2835. So that’s a bit over $44 / sail. Without the breakages in the last month it would have been more around the $28 so hopefully will be a lot less next year."
I would never want to know that, I used to figure out how much each wave cost me when I'd fly off to somewhere exotic on a surf trip, the results were often heartbreaking, anywhere from $110/wave to $400/wave depending on conditions and time spent on the trip.
I found it to be a great way to kill the buzz after a trip, so I stopped doing that.
A good friend of mine sprained his ankle after one half day of surfing on a trip to Namotu, he figured each wave cost him about $750!!!
Be careful of what you really want to know.
Forget about hiding spending records from your other half, I used to get rid of all records so that I wouldn't know myself.
Magic Ride - bought myself a canmore GP102 - cost about $70. See www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Gps/First-results-with-the-Canmore-GPS-GP-102/?page=9
It was approved for GPSTC but I think there is some conjecture about it now but I am not looking at upgrading to a different one at this stage.
As I said I am not good with all the techo stuff and just want something that is easy to use and this one is easy enough. You can't see your stats on the water with it though and you need to upload to a website like KA72 to see all of you GPSTC category speeds but that is pretty easy.
It does have a hidden memory that you need to delete every so often - that's what my 3 sessions lost were all about last year. The other problem that I have is forgetting to take it with me - as I did yesterday - first sail for 2017 and no GPS.
Mastbender - the whole money tracking was to do with comparing with other sports. I have not included travel costs as I figured that I would have gone on the holiday anyway. At $28 it quite affordable comparative to other sports. For example playing my friend plays hockey and when you take into account the gear, the yearly association and club fees and the match fees it is costing him around $40 per game.
cheers
congrats on the GPS - as you have seen - FUN stats
for me in 2016 ...
34 sessions over 8 months = ~4 sessions per month = 1 per week
MUCH less than the year before
almost 80% of the sessions were on a longboard with an 8.5 m² sail
LOTS of light wind
spent $360 in 2016 (bottom line after many sales and purchases)
less than any of the previous ten years short boarding
360/8 = $45 per month
360/34 = $10.60 per session
am making an effort to spend less money and more TOW with what I have ...
after reviewing trends in the sport, am feeling it is becoming more and more a rich man's sport
kiting is taking over here BIG time
i am trying windsurfing in winter conditions, but kites have me beat in deep snow :-(
134 recorded sessions in 2016
hum.... got to improve that in 2017 !! 
best wishes to all seabreezers !!!
Select to expand quotespanishwog said..
Mastbender - the whole money tracking was to do with comparing with other sports. I have not included travel costs as I figured that I would have gone on the holiday anyway. At $28 it quite affordable comparative to other sports. For example playing my friend plays hockey and when you take into account the gear, the yearly association and club fees and the match fees it is costing him around $40 per game.
cheers
Understood, what I posted was the worst of the worst, they weren't all that way, and in the long run I stopped keeping track, no reason for a potential buzz kill. But it did, over time, make me make some life style adjustments, as they say about life, "it's all in the way you set it up".
I wear a Suunto Ambit GPS watch for all my activities (windsurf, SUP, road and mountain bike) then load them all up to Strava. My windsurfing is all freeride / bump&jump / waves, so I'm really just using Strava as my diary - not that interested in top speed but total kms is a good metric. I don't pay any attention to the watch while I'm sailing, so it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment. Loading it up afterwards takes less than a minute of effort. I make a habit of taking a photo at the end of each session and posting it with the activity on Strava, also giving the activity a memorable title that will remind me of the day. Definitely helps me re-live my sessions.
Select to expand quoteMagic Ride said..
Dang Seanhogan,
That's a lot of sessions! You must be retired?
LOL, No I've got a full time job !!
(and a very understanding boss that only makes me work in the morning.... 
)
I intend to do 300 a year once I'm retired !
Wouldn't we all like to have a boss that works around our windsurfing schedule. I love it!! Well rack in those sessions. Man that's awesome!!
134 - that is certainly something to chase.
Would make the spend / session more respectable too!!
A GPS is a great thing even if you are not into speed itself. It benefits your sailing and givces you another aspect to share with your friends.
I got 79 sessions in 2016 and sailed 4100kms.
Select to expand quoteHarrow said..
Forget about hiding spending records from your other half, I used to get rid of all records so that I wouldn't know myself.
For what I've spent on gear in the last 8 years I could have bought a small car..
.. And that's buying $300-$400 gear with mismatched masts and 2008 boards..not new or near new stuff..
Gps has really improved my sailing - I used to sail rigged for the gusts and reach back and forth. Now I generally rig for the lulls , work upwind , do bearaway , I'm always trying to improve my gybes.
I also enjoy the social side meeting and talking to people all over Australia. I'm often too focused on getting on the water to talk a lot at the session but yak after on GPST..
It doesn't pay to check it sailing in chop though...feels like a million miles an hr and low 20's..
Have done a similar set of stats as George has done. Very happy with my results after my second year of returning to windsurfing after a 14 year break. I've sailed more than twice the sessions as 2015 (helps not living in Canberra mid-week) and generally all of my results have improved. Let's hope they continue to improve in 2017. I guess there will be a point where they all plateau out though....
I don't want to think what $ I've spent
Select to expand quoteTony Wills said..
Have done a similar set of stats as George has done. Very happy with my results after my second year of returning to windsurfing after a 14 year break. I've sailed more than twice the sessions as 2015 (helps not living in Canberra mid-week) and generally all of my results have improved. Let's hope they continue to improve in 2017. I guess there will be a point where they all plateau out though....
I don't want to think what $ I've spent
Why was your hour distance better in 2015?
Monies spent are spent and well spent. Need more monies to convert to spent.
Dave I smashed my PB 1 hour in 2015 however averaged over the top 10, I still improved in that area in 2016.
Select to expand quoteHroar said..
Pretty good year on the Sunshine Coast, managed 210 sessions & 14,550 kms.
Wow, a lifetime of sailing in one year! An amazing effort Pete. My 60 sessions and 2375 kms by comparison, although my biggest year so far, seem hardly worth the effort.
Select to expand quotespanishwog said..
210 - how do I get that job??
It's called retirement .
Well it has been a up and down 2016 for me, not but a lot of time on the water, waiting for a new hip replacement, but was able to finish in first place in Queensland in the Legends class, 3rd in OZ and 3rd in the world so I am very happy with that, 2017 should be a good year I hope, the hip is to be done in the next 8 weeks then about 12 weeks to recover and I will be back.
You could always try top fuel drag racing at $50 000 per 4 second run or formula 1 at about $10million per race. Windsurfing can be about as cheap as fun can get. Years ago my annual budget was about zero dollars, now it's a lot mote$ for less time on water but so important for well being. The smaller the boat, the more fun you have!
Select to expand quotePiv said..
You could always try top fuel drag racing at $50 000 per 4 second run or formula 1 at about $10million per race. Windsurfing can be about as cheap as fun can get. Years ago my annual budget was about zero dollars, now it's a lot mote$ for less time on water but so important for well being.
I just look at skiing - tickets here are around $80 per day. Add gear rental or equipment cost and lodging, and it gets expensive quickly. So $10 or $20 per windsurfing session is cheap! I'm looking forward to spending ~ $100 / day for a 2 week trip to Dahab this year. Perfect time to go - with no direct flights from Russia and England, it should not be too crowded at "speedy".
Last year was pretty good, with 152 sessions and 4 PBs. Having your own little company developing software makes it easy to get away when it's windy .
