J24 Blog » Gear and Gadgets

Review: Wenger Alignhi Yachtman Knife

brian — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 21:24:23 +0000

So after a few subtle hints (like a big posting about it on this blog) my wife bought me the Wenger Alignhi Yachtman Knife as a gift for our anniversary. I’ll be testing it out on the water over the weekend and will post a review here.

Omega Seamaster Racing Chronometer

brian — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:11:55 +0000

How to get faster starts, or at least look cool while trying.

The 5 circles arching across the top of the face change from blue to red as the minutes of the starting sequence ticks down to the final horn. With this bad boy on your wrist how could you not be in clear air, at maximum speed, with a nice buffer defended to port?

Ok, so it costs about as much as our boat, but still. It even says “racing” right on it. Racing. They even printed it in red.

In case you feel the need for other features beyond those two:

It’s a self winding watch so as long as you are moving you are keeping it charged. For the LONG coma-like hangover after an afternoon-evening-night in the Rum Sponsor’s tent at a regatta, it’s got a 44 hour reserve power – so when you finally arise from the dead, scrape the fuzz off your teeth and prepare to head out for day two of racing you won’t be able to blame your watch for making you late.

Lastly, it looks fantastic and will provide one more (perhaps the only) reason for your fellow one-design racers to pull your ass out of the drink if you forgot to latch your lazarrettes and are watching your J24 win the race to the bottom.

The Omega Seamaster Racing Chronometer. Please buy me one.

Wenger Alignhi Yachtman Knife

brian — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:51:04 +0000

Sailing is a ridiculously gear and gadget intensive sport. And believe me, I mean that in the best way possible. There isn’t a week that goes by without a visit to Fisheries Supply or West Marine to peruse the aisles of upgrades or accessories to make us faster, better, cooler than before. There’s even a terrific blog from here in Seattle ( Navagear) that helps to feed the gear geek sailor.

Fortunately, due to the dual constraints of one-design rules and budget limitations, I’ve gotten better about ignoring most of the “stuff” that I come across.

But this latest piece of cool gear is a must have.

Set aside whatever opinions you have about Team Alignhi, the America’s Cup in general, and the spate of protests and lawsuits arising out of this year’s event. Check out the beautiful piece of equipment that came out of the Team Alignhi partnership with Wenger, maker of the orignal Swiss Army Knife.

It doesn’t seem to be available at any retail outlets locally yet, but can be ordered via the Alignhi Knife Website online. The site also features an animation of the various tools and a video of the TV spot for the product.

I’ll be ordering mine ASAP. I’m certain it’ll make our boat better, faster, cooler than before. Maybe with a Swiss and Italian accent, as well.