Finally a Sailboat Racing Watch

Author's Rating:

Pros: Easy to read dial. Well designed buttons. Count down roll to stop watch function.

Cons: Possible battery life issue, but with the Pros above who cares?

The Bottom Line: 
Buy It! For about $125 on the street, this is the best watch I have seen for sailboat racing.

Author's Review
I have been racing sailboats for years and constantly look for countdown watches that meet the need. Casio has done it with their SPF40-1V model. This model allows one to do a conventional countdown for five or ten minute start sequences, beeping each second in the last ten seconds, and at other intervals if you like. What is really nice is that in the countdown mode, you can see the regular watch time including seconds. Most other watches just show the regular watch time in hours and minutes (no seconds) in count down mode. Once you have the official time, without seconds you have no idea (within 60 seconds) when the first gun in the sequence is supposed to go off. With hours, minutes, and seconds constantly displayed, one knows when to anticipate that first gun.

There is an option that enables the watch to switch from countdown to stopwatch function at the start, so you can get your own time at the finish very easily. It will run for hours and should be more than adequate for around the buoys racing.

This watch has a large face with an easy to read dial, unlike the Citizen watches which are really for dress and not usable on a pitching boat. Sure, it is a large watch, but most of the case is plastic and it is very light. The Casio also has easy to operate and well designed push buttons (much better than less expensive Casios) to control the functions. I don't plan to use the temperature, barometric pressure, or compass functions, but they are very easy to operate.

Finally, anyone who has used digital watches over the years will appreciate the simplicity of the operation of this watch. It is very intuitive and has been very well designed.