"Simple Simon" wrote in message

| Motor yachts maybe but sailboaters don't have a clue.

Sailboats don't hold the monopoly for poor placement and use of radar

|
| I've seen many a radar on small sailboats that the owners
| brag about and these units are more suited to big ships than
| yachts, especially sailing yachts that heel.

I haven't seen this... most units are about what you would find on a
comparable powerboat.

|
| Sailboaters are stupid when it comes to choosing radar.
| They favor the wrong features. One example is the range
| they choose. Booby is a good example. He keeps his
| unit on 24 mile range so he can keep track of thunder
| storms while he should be using 1/4 mile range to keep
| track of things that will affect him sooner rather than
| later. Big and powerful is really stupid for a slow speed
| boat that heels. Small and accurate at close range is
| what a sailor really needs. Radar also needs to be
| mounted high up - the higher to better so it can 'look
| down'. This isn't possible on a sailing yacht because
| the higher up the worse the heel. You end up with a
| gimballed mount lower down that's garbage.

I generally keep mine to about the 2 mile range... that's plenty of warning.
I'll drop to a tighter radius if in close proximity to shore. I have mine
mounted just above my Steaming Light /Deck light fixture on a ridged mount.
I found it operates well to 15 degrees heel even in rough water and showers.
Even in a storm it consistently showed a minimum of 4 buoys in a line of 10
buoys that delineated the foul ground from safe water. I have an older model
Furuno with CRT screen and 16 mile capability. I hardly ever use it beyond
the 8 mile range. When the guard zone alarm is set... the buzzer that goes
off will wake the dead. It has picked up float planes and a wooden 18 foot
sailboat miles off. We even used it to locate a missing inflatable dinghy
with the kicker still attached one dark night after it snapped it's painter
on my friend's boat which was accompanying us on the trip.

I like my radar....

CM