Apps for Sailors: Five of the Coolest Racing Apps Afloat

Given the wealth of available apps, it’s not surprising there is plenty of sailing-specific software that can shave time off your racing results. Here’s a look at five of the coolest racing apps afloat:

SailCoach Pro ($21.99 at the Apple App store) was designed to help sailors of all ability levels—as well as their coaches—by providing an on-the-water visual graphic of the day’s racecourse, including weather and tide information, overlaid on an interactive chart. Racers can use the app to “ping” the racecourse; coaches will appreciate the “notes” feature and the ability to share custom-made “.coach” files via DropBox.

If you want to brush up on your match-racing skills, the Tacking Battle ($2.59 at the Apple App or Google Play stores) puts you on the helm of a match-racer charging to weather against another competitor. To win you have to force your competitor to make mistakes, but beware: your competitor also knows all the tricks.

If your boat has B&G instrumentation and a Navico GoFree WIFI-1 module, don’t miss the B&G GoFree Controller & Viewer (free and OS-agnostic). This handy app turns your smartphone or tablet into a portable repeater for your B&G MFD; simply tap around to display everything from instrumentation to charts and tacking angles.

US SAILING’s Racing Rules 2013-2016 ($4.99 at the Apple App or Google Play stores) provides all the information you need to get around the course without drawing a protest. More importantly, it provides immediate access to all the rules, as well as explanations for all signal flags.

Sailboat Race Starter ($5.99 from the Apple App store) helps you hit the line at speed, exactly when the gun sounds. Among other features, the app allows you to mark both ends of the start line with your phone’s built-in GPS, which the app uses to provide real-time distances to the line, the RC boat and the pin.—DS