I had very few weekends to fit it in, so I headed out on a Friday night into fog so thick that I could not see the top of the mast. 24 hours and something like 150 miles, which ever came later. Last spring I had to do a qualifier for the Bermuda 1-2. But if I could afford it, I would get one. If I had limited resources, I would put it lower down the list than a good VHF, instruments, Autopilot, AIS and Radar. To your question, I personally think that it is a useful tool. When it is in standby, it has very low amp draw. If you read the logs from the Solidaire du Chocolat several make reference to using the devices. I also know that probably 80% or so of the Class 40 fleet that I have seen have the Activ's Echo devices installed and then a couple boats have the SeaMe device, and 100% of the IMOCA 60 fleet that I have seen has one installed. ![]() ![]() I do know that the reflector portion of these devices do a surprisingly effective job at increasing the radar signature for the boat - I have tested it a few times with other boats to see how Dragon shows up by turning my device on an off. perhaps because it was detector only? Perhaps because at the end of the day the vast majority of pleasure craft stay in port in heavy fog and the coastal commercial traffic actually pays attention to their radars when in transit, which means the market for these things is very small. I can't really speak to why CARD was a failure.
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