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  1. Race management for dinghy and keelboat sailing
  2. Built in Melbourne, Australia
Bulkhead Mount Mk1

Bulkhead Mount Mk1

Sale price $150.00 AUD

Tax included

Mount your phone where you can see it — and where RaceZen can see the sky.

  • Built for dinghy sailors who want a secure, class-appropriate way to carry a phone on the boat
  • Holds your handset firmly in landscape view — glance at countdown, line distance and race status without fumbling in a pocket or loose cradle
  • Designed for deck mounting on small boats, with a clear path to the sky for reliable GPS
  • Ships with three cassettes and a shim, so it fits the phone you actually sail with — not a one-size-fits-all guess
  • No separate tether required when fitted and used as supplied
  • Pairs with the RaceZen app for starts, tracking and post-race replay

 

 

Phone Care

A phone on a racing boat is doing a job it was not designed for: mounted in the open, hit by spray, run at full brightness for hours, and handled with wet hands. None of it is difficult, but a routine that gets skipped is how a phone ends up dying ashore.

A phone is water-resistant, not waterproof. IP ratings are tested in still fresh water, they describe the phone as it left the factory, and liquid damage is excluded from warranty almost everywhere. Sail accordingly.

Before sailing

  • Check the charging port is clean and dry before plugging anything in.
  • Start with a full battery rather than planning to charge on the boat.
  • Put the phone in Do Not Disturb so a call cannot land on the dash during a start sequence.

While the phone is wet

  • Avoid pressing hardware buttons.
  • Do not plug in a charging cable.
  • Do not open SIM trays, port covers or seals on the water.
  • If the phone is covered in spray, keep using it mounted and do the rinse ashore.

After sailing

What the spray leaves behind is the problem, not the soaking itself. It dries into a fine film that holds moisture, works its way across contacts and packs into buttons and latches — and wiping a wet phone with a dry cloth spreads that film rather than removing it. A rinse in fresh water lifts it off.

  1. Take the phone out of the mount as soon as you are ashore, before you start de-rigging.
  2. Rinse it in fresh water under a gently running tap. Not a pressure hose — that drives water past seals.
  3. Rinse the mount and its hardware too. Fasteners and clamps corrode faster than the phone does.
  4. Shake it gently port-down, blot with a soft cloth, and let it dry port-down in moving air, in shade.

Before you charge

Look into the charging port with a light. It should be clean, dry and free of white or green crust. If it is not obviously dry, wait — a couple of hours is usually enough, overnight is safer. If you need power sooner and the phone supports it, charge wirelessly and bypass the port entirely.

Never

  • Seal a wet phone in a bag or dry box for the trip home.
  • Use heat — hairdryers, heaters, or a sunny dashboard soften the adhesive holding the phone together.
  • Use compressed air. It pushes water further in.
  • Use rice. It does nothing useful and leaves starch dust in the ports.
  • Use soap, solvents or an abrasive cloth on the screen.

Warning signs a phone is losing its seal

A coloured bloom or discoloured corner on the display, or vertical lines across it. Condensation under the front glass or a camera lens. A muffled speaker that does not recover. Charging that works only at a certain cable angle. A battery that drains much faster than it used to, or any bulge — retire a swollen battery immediately, it is a fire risk.

At the first display or port symptom, stop using that phone as the boat phone.

Securing your mount

The Bulkhead Mount Mk1 fixes to a vertical or near-vertical surface — a cabin bulkhead, companionway or cockpit side — and holds the phone in landscape at a comfortable viewing angle. Fit it following the instructions supplied with the mount.

Choose a position where the screen is readable from your normal sailing position and the phone is clear of sheets, winch handles and crew movement. A bulkhead takes wave slap head-on, so make sure the fixing is rated for the surface you are mounting to.

Before you launch, check that the mount:

  • clamps the phone without pressing its buttons;
  • cannot rotate or release when struck by a sheet or a wave;
  • leaves the screen, cameras and charging port usable; and
  • lets the phone shed heat.

After an impact, a knockdown, or any movement of the mount, inspect the fixings, clamp, backing and retainers. Replace loose pads, worn clips and corroded hardware before sailing again.