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5 Cool iPhone Apps for Sailors!

by David Lang

We’re always keeping an eye on the latest and greatest in sailing technology.  One of the newest and most helpful pieces of technology we’ve found may already be in your pocket… the iPhone! The iPhone has quickly become a favorite tool for many SF Bay sailors. After searching through the app store, it’s easy to see why.  We found 5 apps that are particularly useful for sailors.  Leave a comment if you know of any we left out! A special thanks to Bruce Powell, OCSC Instructor, for the great advice!

1) Aye Tides
AyeTides displays tides and currents for locations around the world. AyeTides is tuned for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It is a stand-alone application and does not require internet access to function. Have tides and currents at your fingertips at all times! An easy way to plan ahead or be helpful as crew.  

Aye Tides

2) MotionX GPS
MotionX GPS was designed by sailor/inventor/entrepreneur Philippe Kahn and was used by Kahn during his record setting Transpacific Run. The app has a virtual compass for navigation and a stopwatch to record time, distance, speed and average pace. It lets you email your tracks and waypoints with your photos so they can be viewed on Google Earth and Google Maps. It’s also available in MotionX GPS Lite.

MotionX GPS3) Wind Meter
Having problems with the instruments on your boat? Now you can use your iPhone  to measure wind speed.  Wind Meter works by measuring the volume of the wind on your iPhone microphone and converts it into a wind speed reading.  To use, simply point the microphone into the wind and push Get Wind!  Wait a few seconds and push Got Wind!  The final reading is the average of the period.  We’ve gotten mixed reviews about this app, but at $.99 it’s worth a try.

Wind Meter

4) Weather Channel App
Get the latest weather updates from the meteorologists at the Weather Channel.  The new 2.0 version has animated future radar, video and severe weather centers. Great addition to an sailors iPhone.

5) SailMaster
At a fraction of the cost of stand-alone tactical systems, the SailMaster app provides all the information needed to optimize sailing and racing performance, including:
Boat Speed, Waypoints/Course, Lift/Header, Digital Compass, Count Down Timer, Angle of Heel, Tidal Info and Course Plotting.

SailMaster

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7 comments

1 Eric Shapiro { 07.21.09 at 10:00 pm }

My personal favorite is called Navionics… GPS, tracking, tides, currents, and a full chart.

2 Takeo { 07.23.09 at 6:54 am }

Hello. You may find SailBlaster of interest. . .

3 Robby { 11.17.09 at 10:24 pm }

The Wind Meter App is reallly cool but I understand it works only on 3G iPhones

4 BC Racer { 01.30.10 at 7:30 pm }

You Droid users might like BC Racer in the Android Market. VMG, SOG, etc…

5 How Geeky are you? (Part I) { 02.17.10 at 5:58 am }

[...] OCSC Sailing blog [...]

6 David Lee { 04.24.10 at 9:33 am }

These are very cool apps. We added a blog on our site with a link to your site, for any one interested in checking these out. Personally I guess I realy need to get an iphone now that their are so many cool apps!

7 ASA certified { 05.27.10 at 7:31 pm }

Here’s an app for new sailors studying to get certification

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sailingquiz/id366540848?mt=8

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