Stowe Marine
Encyclopedia
Stowe Marine is a developer and manufacturer of advanced instrumentation systems for racing and cruising sailing yachts.
on the south coast of England
.
, England
. The first product which proved very popular was the Trailing Log, a portable battery powered instrument that measures boat speed and distance run. Thousands of these early instruments are still in use today. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s Stowe extended its activities into Integrated Instruments, Autopilots and Navigation Plotters.
As a company Stowe has changed hands a number of times during its 25+ year lifetime, and is now a subsidiary of Tinley Electronics, the Lymington
based marine electronics
service company. Stowe however remains headquartered just a few miles from its birthplace.
Data that is collected may include apparent wind
speed, apparent wind angle, boat speed, heading, position (Latitude/Longitude) and depth. By combining and analysing these inputs a Stowe system can calculate and display in real time information such as true wind speed, true wind direction, course over ground, velocity made good (VMG), time and distance to next waypoint, and much more. This data can additionally be fed into tactical navigation software running on a laptop computer and analysed against tidal and current databases, electronic charting and weather prediction feeds to enable the navigator to devise the fastest and most efficient route between two or more points. This information can also be fed into autopilot systems.
In 2009 the Stowe product range is centred around the Dataline GX system, with a wide range of configurations available for boats of all types and sizes.
1987 Micro Range Launched
1990 Dataline Integrated Instruments launched
1991 Stowe acquired by Robertson in Norway
1992 Stowe Autopilots launched
1994 Robertson acquired by Simrad Yachting
1996 Simrad acquired by Kongsberg Gruppen
2001 Stowe sold to AW Marine
2007 Stowe acquired by Tinley Electronics
Introduction
Stowe instruments can be found on many of the world's leading sailing yachts, such as Velsheda. Stowe is now based in LymingtonLymington
Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...
on the south coast of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
The company was founded in the early 1980s by Alan Cozins in a shed in his back garden in Rowlands Castle, HampshireHampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The first product which proved very popular was the Trailing Log, a portable battery powered instrument that measures boat speed and distance run. Thousands of these early instruments are still in use today. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s Stowe extended its activities into Integrated Instruments, Autopilots and Navigation Plotters.
As a company Stowe has changed hands a number of times during its 25+ year lifetime, and is now a subsidiary of Tinley Electronics, the Lymington
Lymington
Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...
based marine electronics
Marine electronics
Marine electronics refers to electronics devices designed and classed for use in the marine environment where even small drops of salt water will destroy electronics devices...
service company. Stowe however remains headquartered just a few miles from its birthplace.
Products
Stowe produces integrated instrumentation systems that collect and analyse a wide range of data relating both to a yacht's performance and the external conditions in which it is sailing. This information can then be displayed to the helmsman, navigator and crew and/or analysed by integral data processing functions to produce additional information that enable the yacht's crew to make informed decisions with regard to performance optimisation and navigation strategy and tactics - particularly in a competitive environment.Data that is collected may include apparent wind
Apparent wind
Apparent wind is the wind experienced by a moving object.-Definition of apparent wind:The Apparent wind is the wind experienced by an observer in motion and is the relative velocity of the wind in relation to the observer....
speed, apparent wind angle, boat speed, heading, position (Latitude/Longitude) and depth. By combining and analysing these inputs a Stowe system can calculate and display in real time information such as true wind speed, true wind direction, course over ground, velocity made good (VMG), time and distance to next waypoint, and much more. This data can additionally be fed into tactical navigation software running on a laptop computer and analysed against tidal and current databases, electronic charting and weather prediction feeds to enable the navigator to devise the fastest and most efficient route between two or more points. This information can also be fed into autopilot systems.
In 2009 the Stowe product range is centred around the Dataline GX system, with a wide range of configurations available for boats of all types and sizes.
Timelines
1984 Navigator Range of instruments released putting Stowe on the map1987 Micro Range Launched
1990 Dataline Integrated Instruments launched
1991 Stowe acquired by Robertson in Norway
1992 Stowe Autopilots launched
1994 Robertson acquired by Simrad Yachting
Simrad Yachting
Simrad Yachting is a manufacturer of marine electronics for the leisure and professional markets. A member of the Navico family of brands, Simrad Yachting develops, manufactures and distributes navigation systems, autopilots, marine VHF radios, chartplotters, echosounders, radars, fishfinders and a...
1996 Simrad acquired by Kongsberg Gruppen
Kongsberg Gruppen
Kongsberg Gruppen is Norway's major defence contractor and maritime automation supplier, located in Kongsberg, a former mining town....
2001 Stowe sold to AW Marine
2007 Stowe acquired by Tinley Electronics