There's a bit of a discussion going on in the speed and GPS forum,
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Gps/Alternative-to-the-GT-31/?page=2
About the size of the GPS market, one argument, is if they were cheap enough and fully waterproof, more people than just speed sailors would buy them.
So if you're not a dedicated speeder, what price would you pay for a small personal GPS. For starts it'll tell you how fast you've gone, you can superimpose your tracks on a google earth image, and off the water you can navigate with it.
I don't think they offer any benefit over what any smartphone is capable of doing now with a few apps (less as phones also have live chartplotting capabilities with navionics or similar). I think the only benefit is if they are waterproof and robust where any water users can use them (kites, kayaks, racing ski's, dinghy sailors etc). Anyone else can make do with phone or watch setup more suited.
Hi,
decrepit forgot to state a couple things in my view.
First, not any GPS would do. Watches are not nearly accurate enough due to small room for the antenna. I think it's the same for smartphones. The point is in that the precision needed to log a trip or to tell you in what direction you have to walk to get back to your car is much, much lesser than the precision needed to tell you how fast you are with decent accuracy (so that you can tell your sailing buddy you actually went 0,5 knots more than he did).
Second, a decently waterproof GPS would/should stand the occasional water leaking into most plastic "waterproof" bags; a smartphone, probably, would not.
There have been v.accurate GPS in small form like smart phones for years, accuracy depends on the manufacturer not size. Also many smart phones are not only oleophobic(sp?) Oil repellant but hydrophobic. So a bit of water is no problem at all. My moto g is one of those and there are plenty of vids demonstrating there capabilities.
As for watch GPS I sail tsers cats use paddle boards bicycles bushwalk etc and they would all be GPS watch activities. The price for an accurate one and the hassle of a wristband are the con's. In the end I think id wait till the smartwatches with GPS , phone and basic attributes of a smartphone are reasonably priced, then I'd seriously consider handing over the $s. Think about it, not only could you brag that half knot more but you could call your mate out on the water just to rub it in.
Garmin do multi-sport watches that are waterproof with GPS. You can load your track onto Google Earth and collate a bunch of graphical data. I use mine for running, cycling and windsurfing.
Sorry, they retail for from $400 to $600 and you can also enter waypoints and follow a track if you want to use it for hiking etc. I've also used mine for sailing.
I have a Garmin Foretrex 401 which is great. Rugged, waterproof and less than $250. I wear it on my wrist for running or hiking, strap it on the handlebars of my mountainbike for cycling and throw it in a waterproof bag for kiting (the seal on the USB port was pretty lame, and is now broken off entirely). I much prefer it to my smartphone because I can see the screen easily on the move and I don't have to worry about draining the battery with location services on the phone.
"who would buy a GPS"... nobody - they are in every modern/smart phone.
but...
"who would buy a camera" ... nobody - they are in every modern/smart phone.
Clearly both statements are 100% dead on. 
What matters is, does the phone+GPS meet your needs... or do you need something that has capability not found in a phone.
I have a Garmin GPS watch. I have taken it kiting a couple of times. It is moderately interesting to see how far you have gone and how much distance you can gain on each run and stuff. But you only need to do it once. For all practical purposes I know how fast I am going and I can see how much ground I have gained.
I might take it out again if I am going on an expedition or a trip, or trying out a radically different board or kite (hydrofoil). But for day to day riding there's no real practical benefit.
On my bike it's a different matter. I ride a standard course to and from work. I have to be at certain points to catch clearways and there are speed limits and other people I need to deal with along the way. The watch gives me all the instrumentation I need with no wires. I glance at it frequently throughout the trip.
When I get home I pop the watch on the charger and it automatically uploads the data while it's charging. I look at the data if there's anything significantly different about the ride (usually a head or tail wind, or once I had way too much coffee and went like the clappers.)
There's no way I would take a phone out unless I was doing an adventure trip and might need it to call for help. Even for that my SPOT tracker is probably more suitable. Phones are too big and too expensive and not waterproof.
Well here goes (even though I have been told enough times by the GPSTC committee not to make suggestions):
I believe if a GPS unit was actually waterproof and measured altitude and rotation it would make it attractive to many more users. Although many windsurfers are curious to know their average speed, they are not interested in becoming speed sailors so it is not worth the expense and hassle of setting up a GT-31. Similarly many beginners might benefit from use of a GPS while they are improving but then decide they no longer need it once they reach the limitations imposed by their equipment and location.
If a waterproof and simple GPS unit measured altitude and rotation ( the shadow box did back in 2010), it would be of far more interest to freeriders, freestylers and wavesailors. Still not a huge market.... but the kitesurfers would also be interested. I'm sure they would be keen on getting PBs in how high they can boost and how long they can dangle for as well as tracking their rotations. That would increase the market greatly.
Then other freestyle sports involving air and rotation could also use this unit like wakeboarders, FMX, BMX, skateboarders, hang gliders, snowboarders, skiers, parachutists and synchronised swimmers. Adding these markets might make it worth someone's while to develop and produce a GT31 replacement GPS for windsurfing.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Review/Review-WOO-Sports-tracking-of-jump-height-and-air/
2 new products claim to do this KA360
Can alway make one, cheap solution...
www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-GPS-Datalogger/
