On winning the bid to host the 2007 New Zealand Starling Nationals, it suddenly became painfully obvious to our club that our existing set of pre inflated course markers would be woefully inadequate for the required 7 mark trapezoid course, which included two sets of gates. Not only would it be virtually impossible for us to carry seven pre-inflated marks of adequate size on our 5.2 metre course laying rib, but the time to retrieve extra marks from another boat would restrict our ability to lay a course in an acceptable time.

Our club decided to solve this problem by investing in a set of 8 self inflating marker buoys from Aflex Technology a year before the event to ensure that they would be unsinkable. Initially we had reservations about them getting holes in and sinking, or sinking if run over by a yacht or patrol boat. But these reservations were soon put to rest after several fairly testing sessions. We ran them over with almost every yacht in the club, including between the hulls of a tornado and they just bounced right back up. The air issue turned out to be even less of an issue than with a pre-inflated mark. If a pre inflated mark gets a hole any where in it then it will sink! We found that you could have a hole anywhere in the self inflating mark except in the top 6 inches and it would still stay afloat. To date 18 months later and with several large regattas and club sailing behind us, there has not been one instance of trouble of any kind other than the normal rope versus prop that you get with any mark.

Not only did we find that these marks would fit nicely in a pile at the front of the rib leaving plenty of room to move, and for other needed equipment. But the speed of deploying and retrieving the marks far exceeded expectations.

Another unexpected benefit was the ability to adjust the height of the marks in the water, to suit the wind strength. Out traditional marks would fall over sideways in a strong wind, making them less visible from a distance. With the self inflating marks you just burp out a bit of the air and they sit lower in the water making them far more stable in strong winds and less likely to fall over. The slightly tapered shape along with the extra height more than makes up for setting the m lower in the water. The fact that part of the mark is under the water also makes them less susceptible to being bounced around by the waves.

The clever weight design and easy clip system makes handling the lines and anchors a breeze and of course storage back at the shed is no longer the waste of space it used to be. We will certainly not go back to the pre inflated marks after having these.

Would I recommend them ? I certainly would!