Suunto, the Finnish compass and watchmaker was kind enough to send me a review sample of the soon-to-be-released VENTUS sailing watch. This is part of an upscale series of watches in the Elementum line which also comes in a dive and climbing version.

First impression was good, the watch arrived in a very cool box and the unit itself looks and feels really solid without being overly heavy. Google it if you want details about features, I won't bore you with it here. The watch has all I need for day to day sailing and racing; digital compass, timers and barometric pressure graphs. It even shows the time and date ;-)

The Ventus is easy to use, elegant and cool - pretty much the opposite of your good old G-Shock. Seems rugged enough since I abused it all summer and it still looks brand-new. I like it and I will continue to sail with it through the winter, coming from Finland it should be able to handle the Maine weather...

/Gunnar