TRIED AND TESTED

Gill Stealth Watch review

We have tested this over the spring of 2022 in dinghy and yacht racing

It looks good, matches the Gill Spray top and Buoyancy Aid and most importantly it’s easy to set up and use, writes Mark Harrington. As we all know starts are important, even at club level, and I used this watch a couple of weeks ago at my local club crewing an RS200. We have 3-minute starts at the club to speed things up and it’s very easy to change the settings from a 5 to a 3-minute countdown. The display is clear, even in bright conditions, and from 60 seconds the countdown increases to full screen with 10 second ‘beeps’ to remind you. Contrary to some of the reviews I have seen online, the watch does include a sync function (bottom right-hand reset button once the sequence is started) in case you miss the warning signal.

All the usual functions are included, wake-up alarms and elapsed time etc. The Stealth watch also includes a compass function which I’m sure is useful for coastal racing when sitting on the rail or you need a quick course reference.

Once started the display changes to show elapsed time and real time, so in our case we could work out how far ahead of the 2000s we needed to be. On that day not far enough, despite the good starts, but that’s another story!

Gill brand it as their “most technical watch to date, engineered with a carbon reinforced ABS plastic construction with a stainless steel case back… water-resistant up to 50m and shock and impact resistant”. Functions include four countdown modes (including vibrate mode for a ‘silent countdown’), audible alarm and alert sounds and an electro luminescent backlight. The flexible strap “with marine-grade stainless steel fastening” is very comfortable.