Your first sail
Install SailStats, allow location access, open Track, press record, and go sailing. That is the whole setup. It works on your device’s own GPS with no instruments and no account, and you review the sail on the same screen when you get back in.
Five minutes, start to finish
Install it
Free on the App Store. iPhone or iPad, iOS 17 or later. No account, no sign-up screen.
Allow location
Choose Always when iOS asks. This is what lets recording continue with the screen off, which is the difference between a clean track and one full of gaps.
Open the Track tab and press record
Do it before you leave the dock. There is nothing to configure first.
Go sailing
Pocket the phone if you like. The recording continues in the background and iOS shows its location indicator while it does.
Stop when you are done
The sail is saved with its full track and whatever data was available, and appears in Sessions.
Look at it
Open the session to scrub through the sail on a map with your data replayed beside it, and see distance, time, average and maximum speed.
Do I need instruments to start?
No, and this is worth being clear about because it decides whether the first sail is worth anything. Your device’s GPS gives position, speed over ground and course over ground on its own. That is enough for track recording, start-line timing, race replay, fleet racing and most speed analysis.
Connecting to your boat’s instruments adds wind, depth, boat speed through the water and a proper compass heading — and with real wind data, the point-of-sail breakdown that shows how you actually went upwind versus downwind. That is worth doing, but it is a second step, not a prerequisite. See which chartplotters and gateways work when you are ready.
Why does it want “Always” location?
Because a sailing track is only useful if it has no holes in it. With While Using the App, iOS suspends the app when you put the phone in a pocket or the screen sleeps, and your track stops until you look at it again. Always lets recording continue in the background.
SailStats only uses this while a session is actually recording. Your position is not transmitted anywhere — tracks are stored on your device and leave it only if you deliberately share a race with a fleet.
How much battery will it use?
Enough that a long day wants a charger. Continuous GPS, an open Wi-Fi connection to your instruments 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. For a full day out, a 12 V charging mount at the helm is the real answer.
What should I do on the second sail?
- Build a dashboard with the numbers you actually look at, instead of the default set.
- Connect to your instruments, if your boat has them.
- Set up a start line before your next race.
- Learn the swipes — most lists hide their most useful action behind one.