With wearable technology like smart watches likely to become the next big technology craze, the surfing world has not been forgotten. The Rip Curl Search GPS Watch is the latest offering to surfers who want to take technology into the water with them, and the features it provides could push the boundaries of competitive surfing even further. Imagine knowing exactly how fast and how far you travelled on a wave and being able to compare that with your friend, or enemy, while throwing back a couple of beers after a surf. Well, that is exactly what you can do with the Rip Curl Search GPS Watch, and quite a lot more too in fact.
Watch it: Rip Curl Search GPS Watch Video
The guys at Rip Curl have given us a great little sneak-peak into what their new Search GPS Watch can do, and summed it all up into a short video. Watch Mick Fanning get pitted at Keramas in Bali, and Alana Blanchard smack the lip at Tavarva in Fuji, all while recording how fast they surf, how many waves they catch and the total distance surfed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFFgFNg3bqY
More About the Watch
The Search GPS watch is obviously completely waterproof, and has three main features. It records the top speed travelled on a wave, distance travelled and wave count in real-time and displays it on the watch for you to see while surfing. It also connects with satellites, enabling it to provide the wearer with the latest tide information for in excess of 1,300 surf spots across the globe.
The App that Goes With It
The new Search GPS Watch is complimented by a mobile app that works in sync with the watch. This is where things really get beautiful, because all the information recorded is then relayed to the app, which logs it all and even plots your movements onto a map. You can see exactly where you have been, taken off from, and view all the information on colourful graphs. Sitting next to your pal and comparing performance will lay rest to any disputed claims of a 30 wave session while out on the water!
How Much?
Right now we don’t know for sure how much this little baby is going to set you back, or when it is going to be released. The release date will be coming sure for sure, September seems to be the month that is being whispered, but we’ll let you know as soon as we do. As for the retail price, rumour has it the watch will be released at somewhere in the region of $300. There is no denying that the watch is a cool piece of kit, but will surfers shell out for it? We’ll have to wait and see.