In 1971 That was when the truly innovative successful product arrived.

The Hadrian DR computer , combined data from the electronic compass Hestia with the Harrier slide , showing the distance the vessel had strayed from its intended route.

It must be taken into account that in those years GPS did not exist and only by calculating the dead reckoning could the situation of the boat be known. In 1983 When Ronald Reagan made the satellite system publicly available, GPS replaced dead reckoning systems such as Hadrian.

Meanwhile, integrated instrument systems found their niche in performance systems for racing. B&G had developed his own Horatio navigation performance computer in 1972, in a joint project with the University of Southampton.

Hestia I evolve to the system Halcyon in 1975 .

These new electronic compasses were a crucial step in being able to calculate the true wind direction as a magnetic heading and these advances allowed the development of the Hercules 190 .

Launched in 1980 , the Hercules 190 It integrated an electronic compass, measurements of apparent wind speed, apparent wind angle and ship speed to produce an integrated instrument system that could display all its data on screens installed on the ship.

“It was really the first commercial system where it was easy to get VMG calculations, true wind angles and true wind speeds,”

declared Richard Russell, who joined B&G in 1980 (and worked briefly with Major Gatehouse), rising to director of yacht systems design before leaving for 1992 .

Until this date, all systems were marketed with the names of Greek gods, hence they were known as the equipment of the gods.

SOURCE: NAVICO

If you missed the second chapter, Do you know why it's called B&G and when did it originate?, you can check it out here.

Friday the 3rd, chapter 4: R-evolution of equipment.