GPS For Windsurfing - Garmin Forerunner 920XT

I've had it for nearly a year and I LOVE IT!

Garmin Forerunner 920XT Tri Bundle

Having two heart rate bands means I can keep the backup in my gear bag. Thus when I forget to put the band in my gear bag after washing and drying in fresh water I still have a backup band.

If you want to save some money, get it with only one heart rate monitor band.  As I type this today, Amazon has the red version on sale for $50 less than the blue one.

All are great and you can customize them for Windsurfing along with the standard settings for all three triathlon sports (run, swim and bike.)

Here is my screen to review my session to post on Facebook.

And this is the screen I watch while windsurfing to get my speed, time on the water and distance sailed.

GPS for Windsurfing

February 23, 2013 Update:  I bought the Garmin 310XT last year and have used it over 100 times and love it.  I highly recommend it.

Here is an example of what the 310XT uploads to the cloud using a wireless dongle in a USB port.

Note, in my excitement to sail the first time in 2013, I forgot to put on my heart rate monitor strap so there is no heart rate data.  Here is a session from last year with HR data.

September 8, 2011 update:  Despite being advertised as "rugged waterproof design" the Forerunner 301 is only moderately water resistant.  If you don't keep it in a dry bag, it will eventually leak and fail.  If you tell Garmin if failed while windsurfing, they won't honor the 1-year warranty!  I told them Amazon.com advertise these for winsurfing and they advertise them for "triathletes" which implies swimmers and they volunteered to repair or replace it for me for $34.   I will probably use a dry bag and eventually upgrade to the Waterproof 310XT that they recommend for swimmers and windsurfers.


 

 

It is really nice to know how fast I am going while sailing by glancing at my wrist and I really liked knowing how many miles I sailed and top speed reached.

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Original Article:

I used my Garmin Forerunner 301 GPS Personal Training Device for the first time yesterday windsurfing and loved it!

It was so easy to set up and use.

It is water proof and you wear it on your wrist like a watch.  I set up the custom view to show my current speed in big type so I can easily see it with a glance while sailing.  I found I was also able to see the smaller text I set for max speed and total distance.

This is the bike handlebar mount I bought so I can use it for biking.

At the end of my first "workout" windsurfing for 1hr and 35 minutes on a 6.5 sail in flood tide at Coyote pt yesterday the heart monitor said I burned 1718 calories in 22.85 miles with pk speed of 24.4MPH.   I was not able to get upwind enough to let loose on a downwind run to try and break 30MPH.

I am not sure how the heart monitor does calories since I have not entered weight yet. Avg HR was 135 BPM - easy training session.  After only a single use where I have not had time to read the instructions yet, I am very pleased and recommend it to all.