Okay, we’re just kidding with that picture.
This handy guide is about the best depth transducers, speed transducers and wind transducers on the market.
With a good transducer bundle that covers those three, you’re set to get accurate measurements of the current sailing conditions you find yourself in.
Having those kinds of readings available to you eliminates all the guesswork. Why sail in the blind when you can sail confidently with your high tech equipment to help you find your way safely and surely?
| Editor’s Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Depth / Wind / Speed Instrument Bundle | Raymarine i50 / i60 Wind, Speed and Depth System Pack Transducer |
| Alternative Top Pick for an Instrument Bundle | Garmin 010-01248-30 GMI 20 / GNX Depth / Speed / Wind Bundle |
| Best Marine Instrument Display | Garmin GMI 20 Marine Instrument Display |
| Best Budget Option for a Marine Instrument Display | Garmin 010-01142-00 GNX 20 4″ Mono LCD Instrument Display |
| Best Wheel Autopilot Pack | Raymarine EV-100 p70 Wheel Pilot Pack |
| Worthy Mention (3 in 1 Sonar) | Lowrance Active Imaging 3 in 1 Transducer |
Click to jump straight to each topic
The Best Sailing Instruments Reviewed
The top recommendations below really come down to the choice between brands.
Raymarine’s transducers and Garmin’s transducers are head-to-head in terms of quality, but Raymarine inspires the most confidence in term of pure reliability.
Best Depth / Wind / Speed Instrument Bundle: Raymarine i50 / i60 Wind, Speed and Depth System Pack Transducer
Best Depth / Wind / Speed Instrument Bundle
Raymarine i50 / i60 Wind, Speed and Depth System Pack Transducer
Everything you need to get spot on accuracy of wind, speed and water conditions, complete with a three-year warranty.
The depth and speed transducers are the through hull type, and the wind one is a standard masthead wind transducer.
The kit also comes with large, high contrast LCD displays with red backlights for easy visibility.
If you’re looking for through-hull transducers (also called thru-hull transducers) and a masthead wind transducer that provide you with clear, and – most importantly – accurate readings, then this is the bundle you’re looking for.
The choice between Raymarine and Garmin tends to have to take into account that Raymarine products have been developed and refined over many years longer than Garmin’s relatively newer range of sailing instruments.
That means that Raymarine have pretty much gotten their sailing instruments’ reliability and overall quality as best as it can be.
However, with Garmin’s entries being newer to the market, you have that to contend with.
That’s the Raymarine wind transducer kit that’s included, which is also available by itself.
Anyway, if you have existing Raymarine instrumentation that you’re upgrading from, you’ll be glad to know that this kit has the exact same 110mm x 115mm Footprint as older Raymarine ST60+ instrumentation.
That sure makes upgrading a whole lot easier, and even then, it shows you how forward compatible Raymarine have designed their products.
What We Like:
- Accurate, Reliable Equipment – Let’s face it, you want sailing instruments that work reliably and accurately without having to worry about them failing out at sea. I mean, even simply requiring less maintenance is really nice.
- Three Year Warranty – Gives you peace of mind that this is actually a long-term investment, and something you can rely on.
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Alternative Top Pick for an Instrument Bundle: Garmin 010-01248-30 GMI 20 / GNX Depth / Speed / Wind Bundle
Alternative Top Pick for an Instrument Bundle
Garmin 010-01248-30 GMI 20/GNX Depth/Speed/Wind Bundle
A strong contender for the top choice. This is one high quality sailing instrument bundle.
With this bundle, you get two displays, one monochrome and one color, compared than Raymarine’s three (two monochrome, one analog/monochrome).
The whole kit is easy to install, simple to use, and extremely accurate as you’d expect from Garmin. It also comes with a one-year warranty.
As with the Raymarine sailing instruments above, these are through-hull and masthead transducers.
Like we said before, Garmin’s sailing instruments are technically newer in design than Raymarine’s ones, as you can see with the displays they’re offering in this bundle.
This kit comes with one monochrome display, and one color display, which is fine if you don’t mind not having three, easier to read (from the bigger readouts they can display by having a whole screen each), separate displays for your three transducers.
The displays themselves though do seem a little newer than Raymarine’s more traditional monochrome ones.
As for the kit as a whole, it’s easy to install, and we especially like Garmin’s Nexus twin-fin technology with 3-bladed propeller on the wind transducer in this bundle.
It basically really helps you to get better wind readings when in relatively light winds.
What We Like:
- Nexus Twin-Fin Three-Bladed Propeller – The wind transducer in this Garmin bundle is our favorite thing about it. It’s a really nice update on the standard masthead wind transducer design that helps improve its accuracy in light wind conditions.
- The GMI 20 Color Display – Another nice, more modern upgrade to the classic monochrome displays we’re all used to. This is the display we’ve recommended below as the best marine instrument display.
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Best Marine Instrument Display: Garmin GMI 20 Marine Instrument Display
Best Marine Instrument Display
Garmin GMI 20 Marine Instrument Display
The very same color display that’s a part of the boating instrument bundle we reviewed above.
This is a modern marine instrument display that does the job spectacularly.
If you want an upgrade from your standard monochrome display, then Garmin have made the GMI 20 to be exactly that.
Because of the versatility of this color display, you can really get much more out of it compared to what monochrome displays can handle.
What We Like:
- Crisp, Crystal-Clear Readouts– Get multiple, clear readings on one display. We much prefer the crispness of this display compared to your average monochrome alarm-clock-like display.
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Best Budget Option for a Marine Instrument Display: Garmin 010-01142-00 GNX 20 4″ Mono LCD Instrument Display
Best Budget Option for a Marine Instrument Display
Garmin 010-01142-00 GNX 20 4″ Mono LCD Instrument Display
A quality monochrome display from Garmin, that naturally costs less than a full color display.
Elegant, simple and easy to operate. If you prefer classic monochrome displays over color displays, then we recommend going with this one even if you’re not on a tight budget.
The GNX 20 marine instrument display is easy to read, with black digits on a white or color background that clearly shows depth, speed, wind and 50-plus marine and boat parameters.
Its glass-bonded display with anti-glare lens coating makes daytime and nighttime readability excellent, and combined with its high contrast digits that are scalable up to 36 mm, you can see why this is such a good monochrome display for marine instruments.
What We Like:
- Excellent Daytime and Nighttime Readability – Exactly what you’re looking for in a display.
- Able to Show 50-plus Marine and Boat Parameters – The versatility of this display is pretty impressive. It’s really just the most modern monochrome display on the market.
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Best Wheel Autopilot Pack: Raymarine EV-100 p70 Wheel Pilot Pack
Best Wheel Autopilot Pack
Raymarine EV-100 p70 Wheel Pilot Pack
This well-designed pilot pack makes use of precision monitoring of heading, pitch, roll and yaw, allowing the autopilot to react instantly as sea conditions and vessel dynamics change.
No calibration is needed. The autopilot just works without requiring any user adjustments.
This is a fully enclosed wheel-drive that fits most types of wheels and provides superb autopilot performance for small to medium sized sailboats.
The quick and easy installation makes this a simple upgrade to have, and because it has a fully waterproof housing, you can install it either above or below deck.
What We Like:
- No Calibration Needed – This autopilot react instantly as sea conditions and vessel dynamics change. That’s how an autopilot should be.
Check the latest price on Amazon.
Other Worthy Mentions
These are ones that didn’t quite make the cut as one of the top picks, but are still interesting enough to be worth a look.
Lowrance Active Imaging 3 in 1 Transducer
Utilizing the latest techniques in sonar signal generation, the Lowrance Active Imaging 3 in 1 Transducer is a valuable marine instrument to add to your arsenal.
Active Imaging is a new scanning sonar technology that provides incredibly detailed, high resolution imaging sonar without sacrificing any range. It uses SideScan beams to increase resolution and improve performance at range.
It’s also combined with a with a traditional medium/high CHIRP sonar element for easy single transducer installation.
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