Questions and answers
Straight answers about what SailStats does, what it needs from your boat, and what it doesn't do. If yours isn't here, ask us — the questions people actually send are how this page gets written.
Getting data in
Can I use SailStats without any instruments?
Yes. SailStats records position, speed over ground and course from your device's own GPS, with no hardware at all — that's enough for tracks, start-line timing, race replay and most speed analysis. Wind, depth, boat speed through the water and compass heading are what a connected instrument feed adds.
Does SailStats work with a B&G Zeus?
Yes. Zeus², Zeus³, Zeus³S (Zeus S) and Vulcan displays all stream NMEA 0183 over Wi-Fi, which is exactly what SailStats reads. Zeus³ and Zeus S have been tested on a real boat. There's a full walk-through on the B&G page.
Will it work with Garmin or Raymarine?
Not directly. The Wi-Fi built into most Garmin and Raymarine displays is for the manufacturer's own app, chart updates and screen mirroring — not a general NMEA feed other apps can read. Add an NMEA 2000 Wi-Fi gateway to the boat's backbone and connect SailStats to that instead. The plotter carries on working exactly as before.
Do I need a NMEA 2000 gateway?
Only if your display can't stream NMEA 0183 over Wi-Fi itself. B&G, Simrad and most Lowrance displays can, so they need nothing extra. Garmin, Raymarine, Furuno and Humminbird generally do need a gateway. The compatibility page lists 32 devices and says which is which.
What IP address and port do I use?
The IP address is your display's or gateway's own, shown in its
settings — on a Navico plotter it usually looks like
172.22.x.x, and it can change between sessions.
The port is almost always 10110, which SailStats already has
filled in. Most Navico displays never show a port anywhere, and that's
normal.
Why can I connect but see no data?
Four usual causes, in the order worth checking. Your source is broadcasting UDP rather than offering a TCP server — SailStats needs TCP, and many gateways ship with UDP on by default. Another navigation app is holding the connection, and the display allows only one. The IP has changed since last time. Or the boat simply isn't sending that data, because the sensor isn't fitted.
Does SailStats work with Signal K or OpenPlotter?
Yes. Enable NMEA 0183 output over TCP in Signal K — commonly on port 10110 — and point SailStats at your server's address. This also works well as a way to feed SailStats from an NMEA 2000 network you've already got into Signal K.
Can I plug a NMEA cable straight into my iPhone?
No. Neither NMEA 0183 wiring nor an NMEA 2000 backbone can connect directly to an iPhone or iPad — the data has to reach the device over Wi-Fi. That means either a plotter that streams it, or a Wi-Fi gateway on the network.
Using it
Does recording keep going with the screen off?
Yes. SailStats records in the background using continuous location updates, so you can pocket the phone or let the screen sleep and your track won't have holes in it. iOS shows the location indicator while this is happening, which is how you can tell it's still running.
How much battery does it use?
Enough that a long day wants a charger. Continuous GPS, an open Wi-Fi connection and a bright screen are all real costs, and none of them are avoidable for what the app does. Turning the screen off between looks helps a great deal; a 12 V charging mount at the helm is the answer for a full day out.
Does it work on iPad?
Yes, and the extra screen suits the dashboard and the replay maps particularly well. A cellular iPad has its own GPS; a Wi-Fi-only iPad does not, so it will need an instrument feed for position, or it will rely on whatever location iOS can infer.
Does the Apple Watch app need the phone nearby?
Yes. The Watch app is a companion display — the phone does the connecting, recording and calculating and sends the numbers across, so it needs to be aboard and within Bluetooth or Wi-Fi range. It is not a standalone instrument.
Can I change units?
Yes — knots, km/h or mph for speed; nautical miles, kilometres or miles for distance, with wind set independently if you want it. Everything is stored canonically and converted only for display, so switching units never rewrites your recorded history.
How do I set a start line or a mark without a chartplotter?
Three ways, and all of them work with no instruments at all. Ping an end from the boat as you sail past it, drop it on a map by touch, or type the coordinates. Marks can be saved to a library and reused in any later race.
Are there gestures I might be missing?
Yes — most lists hide actions behind a swipe. Swipe a row right for its main action: rename a session, duplicate a race, edit a mark. Swipe left to delete or exclude. Long-press a dashboard tile to edit or remove it.
Racing and fleets
How do I share a race with my fleet?
Create the race and share its join code, or send the link it generates. Everyone records their own sail on their own device and uploads the track afterwards, and the whole fleet then replays together on one map — who went where, who gained on which leg, and how the leaders' first beat differed from yours.
Does everyone in the fleet need the app?
Everyone whose track you want to see, yes — each boat records its own. They don't need instruments, though: a phone's GPS is enough to contribute a track to the replay. No one needs an account to join a race.
Does SailStats call me OCS if I'm over early?
No, and deliberately. SailStats is not a race committee: GPS accuracy and line-transcription error are both larger than the margins that decide an OCS call. It flags a potential OCS and gives you the numbers behind it — your distance to the line at the gun, and which way you were going — so you can judge it yourself.
Can I compare two sails from different days?
Yes. Time-trial mode compares runs recorded on different dates against the same course, so you can race yourself over a season and see whether new sails or a different technique actually made a difference.
What does the start-line timer actually tell me?
Distance to the line and time to the line, continuously; time to burn, which is how early or late you'll be at your current speed; and line bias measured against both the wind and the first mark, so you know which end pays. Three start screens present it differently — swipe to whichever you read fastest.
Cost and privacy
Is SailStats free?
Yes. Free on the App Store, with no subscription, no in-app purchases and no advertising. Everything described on this site is in the free app.
Do I need an account?
No. The app works fully without one, including fleet races. Sign in with Apple is optional and does one thing: ties shared races to you rather than to a device, so a replacement iPhone picks them up again. If you use it we receive an email address — a private relay alias if you hide yours — and nothing else.
Where is my sailing data stored?
On your device. Tracks, instrument history, sessions, races, marks, dashboards and settings are all held locally, and recording, review and analysis happen entirely on the device. Data leaves it only when you deliberately share a race with a fleet.
Can I delete everything I've uploaded?
Yes, from inside the app, at any time: Settings → Privacy & Data → Delete Account & Cloud Data. Full details of what's kept and for how long are in the privacy policy.
Does the app track me or show ads?
No. The app contains no analytics SDK, requests no advertising identifier and shows no advertising. This website does use Google Analytics to count visits and see which pages are useful, with ad personalisation switched off — that's described in section 7 of the privacy policy.