GPS Speedsailing Watches – for Windsurf, Kiteboard and Wing Foiling

About this website : from 2006 until 2014 we sold the best GPS speedsailing products to the UK’s fastest speedsailors. Devices developed specifically for the accurate measurement of windsurfing / kiteboarding speed. We dealt with several brands including Velocitek, Garmin and Locosys. Things have moved on considerably since then and the choice of water-resistant GPS watches with the ability to measure sailing speed is HUGE. This site is dedicated to those SPEEDSAILORS who want to sail faster than the rest. Thank you for visiting – Tristan Haskins (max speed 43.5 knots)

The best GPS watch for Speedsurfing

I have been a huge fan of the Garmin Fenix range for many years and I still am. The problem with the Garmin devices is the GPS data isn’t recognized / accepted for national records or professional competition by GP3S. For recreational sailing and local competition with friends it’s still a great choice. However, for serious competition and GPS track data accuracy accepted at all levels of competition – it has to the the COROS APEX PRO. I still wear my Garmin Fenix for windsurfing (not competition), running, kayaking, cycling etc. When competing, which is rare, I wear my old Locosys GT31. But no need for TWO devices – with the COROS APEX PRO you have one watch that does everything 🤙

Update July 2023 – I now use the Garmin Instinct 2 for all my sports from Stand Up Paddleboarding, windsurfing and dinghy racing – to – running, mountain biking and circuit training. I will be adding a page dedicated to the Instinct 2 shortly.

Coros, Suunto, Garmin for recreational speedsailing.

If you just want to have fun racing mates, uploading tracks to STRAVA or even GPS-SPEEDSURFING.com, then most modern smartwatches are fine. I lean towards the more robust OUTDOOR watches by companies like Suunto and Garmin. These timepieces can take a serious pounding – even crashing at 45 knots. I wear a Garmin Fenix 5 with a dedicated GPS WINDSURF datafield set (more about that here)

However – and this is important – if you want to upload your speed for National / International Competition or Records to GPS-SPEEDSURFING.com it’s best to use an APPROVED GPS unit – at this moment that is one of the following:

• Coros Apex Pro (a modern GPS multisport watch) – if you bike, run, gym, hike, yoga as well as speedsail – get this one.
• Locoys GW60 (wrist worn) – a great watch introduced in 2016 still favoured by many speedsailors. Great – but highly specified for speedsailing with no modern smartwatch functionality (eg heart rate, steps etc).
• Locosys GT31 (worn on bicep) – still works, but old WIRED tech for upload … I’d give this a miss unless you like RETRO.

Coros Apex Pro GPS multisport watch

Thanks to my windsurfing friend and expert slalom / speedsailor, Michael George for this update. Mike introduced me to the COROS range of GPS watches. That’s why I have to recommend the COROS Apex Pro GPS watch for all water-sport enthusiasts looking for the best and easiest to use sports watch. It does everything the Locosys GPS products did – only better.

Summary of a Slalom Windsurf session

The screenshots are courtesy of Michael George K888 all grabbed from his mobile phone after a windsurfing session.

How simple is this to understand – perfect summary. This is just what us speedsailors are looking for. Number of runs, fastest 100m, 250m, 500m (the important one) and average 5 x 10s (as used on GPS-speedsurfing.com)

Recommended by GPS-speedsurfing.com

This watch didn’t just arrive and then get adopted by speedsailors – the speedsailing side of it was developed in conjunction with the team from GP3S. They worked with COROS to ensure it would provide GPS data in an easy to use interface with all the statistical data necessary for competitive speedsailing. The result – a perfect multisport GPS watch to rival any Garmin, Suunto or Polar.

COROS and GPS-Speedsurfing.com(GP3S) have been working together to develop a tailor made workout mode that enable instant feedback on the water for all our major categories. The current release of this native speedsurfing mode is available for all COROS APEX PRO & VERTIX owners, and will bring a very high level of accuracy combined with a rock-solid hardware design, amazing battery life and a convenient easy-to-use user interface including fully auto-uploading to our platform. We will continue to collect data and improve the speed algorithms together with COROS. Based on the progress we have made so far, supported by hundreds of test miles on the water, we are convinced this combination is a future proof, trustable, accurate & verifiability solution that we want for our platform

GPS-speedsurfing,com

More details at the GP3S website

To learn more about this collaborative product please visit GPS-speedsurfing.com. Here you will find an extensive FAQ on the Coros APEX and VERTIX plus a step by step setup guide. Everything you need to get on the water and sailing in no time. To BUY the Coros GPS watches pop over to the GP3S shop or check prices with Amazon below

The bottom line is this ….. For GPS speedsurfing (windsurf, kiteboard etc) I recommend the Coros Apex Pro or Coros Vertix (well … actually Mike did, so thanks Mike)

Coros Apex at Amazon

In the past I used to sell GPS units directly and I’m proud to have supplied the older unit, the GT31, to the UK’s fastest sailors including, Dave White, Farrel O’Shea, Steve Thorp, Pete Young, Zara Davis, Jim Crossley, Stuart Trunkfield, Graham Clegg, Ian Richards, Bob Cunningham, Adam Gustafsson, Neil Hardwick, Mark Hayford, Pete Davis, Michael George, Darren Mathers, Paul Burgess, Chris Bates, Howard Rowson (“The Weatherman”), Paul Simmons and Mark Bailey. A name for future 50 knots plus is SCOTTY STALLMAN seen in action below.

Nowadays I sail for FUN and only get my speed kit out for big West Kirby days. The picture below was one of my quickest sessions squeezing 43 knots from a 40cm Moo Custom speed board and a Tushingham X15 slalom / speed sail. My YouTube Channel for Speedsurfing is still active