Penon
The instrument
A wind instrument with no moving parts, corrected for the boat's motion.
The problem
A masthead sensor with rotating parts wears, seizes and breaks — often far from any port.
The approach
Wind is read in the way it disturbs an ultrasonic field between fixed transducers. The measurement is reciprocal: the medium cancels out, the wind remains. Nothing moves.
Motion
A masthead moves — roll, pitch, acceleration. An on-board inertial unit corrects the measurement in real time: what reaches the helm is the wind, not the boat’s motion.
Endurance
A masthead combines everything rugged military equipment is designed against: salt fog, UV, thermal cycling, permanent vibration, lightning, and a VHF radio a metre away. Penon is designed as rugged equipment: derated and conformal-coated electronics, protection on every line, locking connectors, tested sealing. Environmental tests will follow MIL-STD-810H methods; their reports will be published.
Craft
Penon will be made in a small numbered series. Each piece will be calibrated on a reference bench and delivered with its signed certificate, carrying its own results.
Depth
The measurement core will move to a dedicated mixed-signal chip, so that the instrument depends on no part a single supplier can discontinue.
What is published
The technical documentation and, as they are released, the files needed to integrate and repair the instrument. Each release states its licence and is signed.