Silva 103RE Full Version Manual

FULL VERSION MANUAL

103RE

Art.no 37189-0101 (MN), 37189-0103 (ME), 37189-0105 (MS)

SILVA MARINE RACING COMPASS 103RE (RACING ELITE)

Than k you for choo sing a 103RE , Racing Eli te compas s. 103RE is a hi gh qualit y compass f or sail
raci ng, includ ing the uniqu e offset r acing sca le. Also cr uisers w ho want to re ad the cours e from
the ra il will enjo y this compa ss featur ing a very c lear scale , stable ca rd and simpl icity of u se.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

THE CO MPASS CA RD HAS 3 S CALES W ITH 3 LUBB ERLINE S

1. Top scal e 360°, read a gainst the b ack centra l lubber line on dow nwind.

2. Star board gre en 360° edg e scale, of fset 40° anti clo ckwise from top s cale, read again st
star board lub ber line on st arboard tack .

3. Por t red 360° e dge scale, w hich is off set 40° clo ckwise f rom top scal e, read agai nst port
lubbe r line or por t tack.

The t wo front lub ber lines ar e also off set 40°, from the central l ubber line .
The of fset edge s cales and front lu bber lines , allows th e helmsman to r ead the cour se from
the nor mal position in the boat, on the r ail usually s lightly af t and to the wind ward side of the
compass. T his makes it p ossible to r ead the cour se from 3 posi tions in the b oat!

MEMORY ARROWS

The gr een starb oard arro w and red por t arrow on t he compass h ousing, ar e to remind you
to tack f rom star board bow if the course de creases , and tack from por t bow if the course
increases.

THE PACKAGING INCLUDES

• Compass unit

• Mounting kit

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES

• 12V “sti ck on” illumin ation (Ar t no. 34479)

• Comp ensator (Art n o. 34472)

MOUNTING

103RE i s designed f or horizon tal mountin g on dinghies like the L aser belo w the mast, and
there fore has a hol e for the cunni ngham or dow nhauls.

The mounting kit includes screws, mounting moulding and template for mounting where
needed.

COMPENSATION

If the deviation is more than 5°, compensation is recommended. For the compensation proce­dure, s ee the instr uctions s upplied w ith the optio nal compensator.

Since m agnetic con ditions in a boat are l iable to change, we r ecommend c hecking th e compass
once a ye ar, and alw ays after i nstalla tion of equip ment which might af fect the compas s.

MAINTENANCE

To clean th e compass us e mild soap s olution onl y and a soft cl oth. Do not use strong solv ents,
whic h may damage th e plastic . When not in us e we recommend that you dem ount the comp ass
and sto re it in room te mperatur e.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Type of co mpass: Dinghy racing compass
Illumination: Option al (Art n o. 34479 )
Lubb er lines: Yes , centre (bac k) and side vi ew at 40°
Cent re sightin g peg: No
Gimballed cradle: No
Accuracy: ±0.5°
Apparent card diameter: 100 mm (4”)
Compensator: Optio nal (Ar t no. 34472 )
Card t ype: Cone
Card graduation: Edge: E lite. Top: ever y 5°
Heeling angle: Roll: 30 ° Pitch: 30 °
Heeli ng angle sc ale: No
Mounting: Dash
Mounting angle: -10° to +110°
Temp operating range: -10°C to +70 °C (14°F to 158°F)
Storage temperature: -30° C to +70°C (-22° F to 176°F)
Material: Acr ylic /ABS
Weight: 909 g
Dimensions:

HOW TO SAIL IN WIND SHIFTS WITH RACING ELITE

The mo st important us e of the racin g compass is for fin ding the rig ht times to tac k in the wind
shif ts on the win dward leg s of the race. T he typic al wind shif t situatio ns are desc ribed here . To
become a successf ul racing s ailor, you shou ld be thorou ghly acquai nted with the se princi ples.

THE OLY MPIC RAC E COURS E:

PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT.

The Co mpasses s hould be recycl ed and must no t be thrown in t he regular tras h.
Dispose the se items in ac cordance w ith applic able local r egulations.
For more information please visit www.silva.se

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Racing Elite gives you that winning advantage to use the wind
shifts to your best advantage!

Visit: www.silva.se
for more i nformation ab out the
Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment (WEEE) Directive.

FULL VERSION MANUAL

103RE

Art.no 37189-0101 (MN), 37189-0103 (ME), 37189-0105 (MS)

OSCILLATING SHIFTS

The wind dir ection som etimes osc illates ab out an appro ximate mean v alue. While sail ing up­wind , these shif ts seem to oc cur more frequently to a fa st boat. Wh en sailing i n such oscil lating
shif ts, you sho uld always tack in o rder to be on th e lifting t ack. This w ill give you t he straigh test
poss ible cours e towards the windwar d mark.
If the w ind veers, tack to s tarboar d to let the win d come in from t hat side.
If the w ind backs (s wings to the l eft), you sh ould let it co me in from the l eft by tack ing to port .

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Howe ver, small shif ts that do pa ss the mean
wind d irection s houldn’t be ne glected althou gh
they mi ght be diff icult to see. T he differ ence
betw een being he aded or lif ted while beating
is almost one metre p er degree wind shift, pe r
knot an d minute sailed. T his means tha t going
the wr ong way in a fi ve degree sh ift while
sail ing at 5 knots for one mi nute would bring
you almost 2 0 metres beh ind a boat that w ent
the ri ght way. It isn’t e asy to make up fo r such
loss es by trying to sa il faster.

PERMANENT SHIFTS

The wind som etimes shifts w ithout ret urning to it s original d irection , at least not f or the
remainder of the win dward leg.

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In this e xample
at abou t 200 degr ees. A perm anent shif t makes
it veer to 240 d egrees and here th e oscillat ions
continue. Tactically, the oscillations could be
neglected in a cas e like this. Ch anging tacks
shoul d only be cons idered whe n the wind di­rection go es past its m ean value fo r the whole
wind ward leg.

, the wi nd is first oscill ating

In figu re 3, the bo at in the examp le has a tack ing angle of 9 0° and the ave rage win d directio n is
supp osed to be 00 0°. The boat s tarts b y beating on p ort tack a nd is gradu ally lift ed by the back ing
wind . But then the w ind star ts to veer an d eventual ly passes t he averag e wind direc tion. Bel ieving
that th e wind will c ontinue to ve er, the hel msman tac ks to starb oard as the a verage w ind direc­tion is p assed. H e then is lif ted up to 15° by the v eering wi nd. Here the w ind star ts to back ag ain.
When p assing th e average w ind direc tion, the he lmsman tac ks to port . He is then lif ted on por t
tack u ntil he reads 3 0°, he is then l ifted 15°. Th en the wind s tarts to v eer again.

If the w ind oscill ates betw een 200 and 2 30 degrees, ta ck as the wind g oes past 215 de grees.
The co rrespon ding readin g on the scale is 180° o n starboard and 2 30° on por t tack. If y ou tack
as soo n as the wind st arts to s wing back fr om the extr emes, you w ill find you rself headed on
the fir st part of the new t ack. So sma ll shifts t hat do not pas s the mean val ue shouldn’t b e
tacke d on. It is the av erage win d directio n for the whol e leg that counts.

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It is of ten difficult to predic t permane nt shifts . Sometime s they are caused b y “wind bend s”
over th e coast lin e or by channel ling betw een islan ds. They cou ld also be c aused by clo uds,
the sea bree ze coming in or appear f or other, totall y unpredic table rea sons. Shif ts cause d by
topography shou ld be sorte d out from those wi thin the wind so that y ou can antici pate what will
happen on the n ext windw ard leg.

Sail into the ne w wind when t here is a permanen t
shif t. If the wind v eers, tack to por t. You will be
more and more h eaded. Th en tack slig htly before
arrivin g at the lay lin e. Now the vee ring wind
will l ift you up to th e mark (Boat A ). Tacking the
opposite wa y does not pay off since you w ould
loose more while being headed on the second
tack than you c ould win by be ing lifte d on the first

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(Boat B).

Char ts of wind sh ifts made by sail ing
meteorologists during races show
that th e wind direc tions oft en change
in ver y complex p atterns . Oscilla ­tions a re added to sh ifts caused by
the coa st line, clouds or t he tendenc y
of the se a breeze to ve er with the su n
during the da y.

Rule of thumb: As reading goes above mean: Tack to port.

As it goes below mean: Tack to starboard.

Othe r racing com passes ha ve to be adjus ted before th e start to s et the estimated mean wind
direction. This can be di fficult a nd as soon as th is directi on changes a ny substan tial amount
the com pass need s readjust ment. It is an advan tage if the va riations o f the wind dir ection can
be followed direc tly and conv eniently while sa iling. Thi s gives a bet ter idea of how the win d is
shif ting and per mits conti nuos reapp raisal of th e mean wind di rection .