Garmin quatix 3 - Advanced Smartwatch for Yacht Racing

If you’re into offshore sailing you’re probably already equipped with some high-tech gear, but adding a high-end smartwatch to the list wouldn’t do any arm.. I mean harm. Garmin’s marine orientated smartwatch, the quatix 3 is the new wearable standard for the modern yachty.

Sailing

Navigation equipment, depth sounders, compasses, etc, are generally located in the cabin and cockpit so if you’re on deck or away from the chart table you may not have immediate access to your marine data. The Garmin quatix 3 changes this as it can stream NMEA 2000 data from compatible devices. No matter where you are onboard you can check statistics such as speed, wind and weather data, local tide data, depth and temperature.

The GPS/GLONASS enabled smartwatch logs your course in real-time and allows you to mark locations and points of interest, such as race checkpoints, starting line, finish line, harbours and if you’ve had one too many Rums and you can’t find your mooring the Smartwatch will help you out. Up to one thousand locations and ten thousand track points can be stored on the Quatix 3.

Getting a good start when you’re racing is never a bad thing. With a Virtual Starting Line feature onboard the watch you can set the line between two marked GPS waypoints and combine it with the Countown Timer which calculates the distance to the starting line, burn time and desired speed. Having this information on your wrist will give you more freedom to move around the yacht at the start of a race without missing a trick.

Once you get over the starting line you can use the watch’s Tack Assist mode that lets you know whether you’re getting headed or lifted based on the optimal tack angle.

By the way, my dad was a yacht broker and yacht lover. He used to live and breathe yachts and I grew up racing across the channel with JOG and going on sailing holidays. I’ve also done 3 Round the Island races and we sailed across Biscay down to southern Spain.

Drifting when you’ve dropped your anchor is never a great thing.. The Garmin quatix 3 has you covered with its onboard Anchor Alarm that uses GPS to warn you of drift. It also features an Anchor Rode calculator that lets you know how much chain you’ll need to put out.

Even worse than anchor drift is a man overboard.. On the Garmin quatix 3 there’s an MOB (man overboard) button that enables you to quickly record a location if one your crew takes a tumble over the guard rails, making it easier you to navigate back to the spot.

The quatix 3 comes pre-loaded with user-friendly marine apps and a variety of watch faces fit for a sailor to show off at the blowout at the end of the race. The smartwatch is compatible with the Garmin Connect IQ platform so you can personalize it by downloading more watch faces, widgets, data fields and apps for free.

Fishing

The quatix 3 is more than just a sailing wearable. If the wind drops you can use it to help catch your dinner. Fishing features onboard the watch include a solar/lunar fishing calendar to help you choose the best time to land some lunch, and a location marker so you can find your way to a good spot. There are also inland competition fishing features, such as a Catch Log and a competition timer.

Paddle boating (Paddleboarding) & Rowing

In the Garmin writeup it says the quatix 3 has features for Paddle boating. I find that difficult to get my head around given that a paddle boat is one of those flat-bottom jobs that you pedal with your feet. I’m just gonna have to assume they actually mean Paddleboarding and rowing. Anyway, the Paddle boat features include stroke efficiency, cadence, an activity score and surfing tides.

Swimming

The quatix 3 is geared up for the water, so leaving out swimming just wouldn’t do. In the pool the quatix 3 will serve you real-time metrics, such as number of lengths, distance, pace, stroke count, stroke rate amd calories burned. GPS will track your open water swims and provide stats on your pace, distance, stroke count and calories. The quatix 3 will also automatically detect what kind of stroke you’re using.

Dryland

The quatix 3 is essentially a reworking of Garmin’s flagship smartwatch, the Fenix 3. It has advanced features for many sports, including: running, hiking, cycling, golf and skiing. Adding to its artillery of aquatic and dryland sports features, this super wearable also takes care of your activity tracking needs, automatically tracks your sleep and delivers notifications from your connected smartphone.