Velocitek and Novasail have long been leaders in the sailing electronics industry. This blog will compare the flagship sail instruments from each, the Velocitek Prostart and the Novasail NS START.Pro to give you an idea of the pros and cons of each and help you to choose the right sail instrument for your boat and your racing set up.
The Velocitek Prostart sail instrument
Velocitek have a clear design ethos - make useful sail instruments that do exactly what they are supposed to do, simply, without any distraction, and look good! The Velocitek Prostart sail instrument is a dedicated ‘distance to line’ device. It was designed to give you a clear view of your distance to the start line, during the start sequence, at a single glance, updating twice a second, and depicted in large numbers that are easy to read.
The Velocitek Prostart sail instrument uses it’s GPS receiver to give you accurate information on distance traveled, speed, and heading information. This information can be viewed on screen but is also logged in the onboard flash memory, which can hold around 1000 hours of sailing data and can be transferred to your PC or Mac afterwards, to be replayed with race tracking software.
The Prostart keeps track of your maximum speed and allows you to track your best 10 second average speeds with the click of a button. The computer is also able to display the influence of currents and it can also be linked to other Velocitek race sensors to provide more detailed wind shift information.
The Velocitek also features a simple to use countdown timer with one button = "Gun"! Hit it at any time and the timer starts. If the timer is already running and you hit the Gun button again, it will re-sync and if you are synced to the wrong sequence you can also manually adjust the number of minutes remaining to the start, without interrupting the seconds timer.
The screen used by the Prostart has a multicolour backlight that can be set to white or red for daytime or night sailing respectively. The black and white daytime setting is designed to be crystal clear, even through polarised sunglasses.
The Prostart only has three buttons for maximum ease of use in high pressure situations. These buttons are big enough to be pressed easily in rough weather, even when wearing gloves.
The Prostart uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with around 75 hours of standby battery life, 37 hours of battery life when sailing with the white backlight and 55 hours of battery life when sailing with the night time red backlight. It can be recharged using the power cable provided.
A bonded Gorilla glass display case keeps the Prostart splashproof and waterproof to up to 3 meters underwater.
The Novasail NS START.Pro sail instrument
The Novasail tactical race computers are designed to accommodate a wide range of sailors. Their highest end device, which is most comparable to the Velocitek Prostart sail instrument, is the Novasail NS START.Pro.
The Novasail NS START.Pro sail instrument also features a GPS receiver to provide information on trip distance, GPS heading and maximum speeds. This information can also be stored in the NS-START.Pro memory. The computer can hold 300 hours of data which can be transferred to a PC or Mac via Bluetooth for post-race analysis.
The Novasail NS START.Pro gives you accurate, up to date information on distance to line with bow offset information (the exact distance from your bow to the line) and a "+/-" indicator to show you which side of the line you are on. Dedicated buttons make it easy to store the start line on the device.
The NS-START.Pro also features a countdown timer which allows you to quickly and easily set up a timer for up to 5 minutes, which is great for getting your start timings perfect.
The Novasail NS START.Pro uses an LCD display and is red backlit for night-time sailing. It has two buttons on the front display that are large enough to be pressed in high-pressure situations with gloves on.
The NS-START.Pro uses a single AA battery to give 30 hours of battery life when sailing or transferring data.
The body of the computer is made from a thick rubber ring, made to survive in waters up to 40 meters deep and hardy enough to survive the toughest conditions and wipe-outs.
Comparison of sail instruments
| Velocitek Prostart | Novasail START.Pro | |
| GPS Speedo and Compass | Yes | Yes |
| Distance to Line Display | Yes | Yes |
| Data Transfer | Via Cable | Via Bluetooth |
| Memory Storage | 1000 hours of sailing data | 300 hours of sailing data |
| Waypoint Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Speed Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Count Down Timer | Yes | Yes |
| Display | 183x116x33 mm | 175x120x40 mm |
| Battery Life (when sailing) | Up to 55 hrs (Lithium-ion) | Up to 30 hrs (1 x AA Included) |
| Water Resistanceft | 3m/10ft | 40m/130ft (IPX68) |
| Price | Mid - High | Mid |
Both of these sailbiat instruments are a great choice for a wide range of sailors. Both provide great tactical navigational input and are capable of showing you hundreds of hours of your sailing data to help you improve your game.
Choosing the best one for you depends on a number of factors. The Velocitek Prostart sail instrument is, without doubt, the more finessed product but that does come at a price premium. The Novasail NS START.Pro sail instrument does everything the Velocitek does and comes in a very rugged package, which will appeal to many sailors.
Both the rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery and the single use AA battery options have their pros and cons. A rechargeable battery means you don’t need to worry about having extra batteries on board, however, it does mean that you need to remember to charge your device, or use an on board power supply to recharge it, for longer races. The AA batteries used in the NS-START.Pro can easily be swapped out in seconds.
If you have any questions about sailboat instruments, please feel free to email us at [email protected], or click the link below to see our full range:
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The Best Sail Instrument - Velocitek Prostart or the Novasail NS-START. Pro?