Nowadays, the evolution of technology can be really helpful for tons of things. One of them is the creation of applications for sailing. These apps concern route planners and marine traffic, weather and tides forecast, knot guides, and real-time language translation. In my opinion, the most useful sailing apps you need concern navigation, wind forecast, and tide. In any case, you can benefit from one or two of these handy apps. However, we shouldn’t entirely rely on technology when sailing, but these apps are designed to orientate us and provide important information to facilitate our course. In fact, we can have access to tools and info that mariners never had before, which makes sailing easier and safer. So, check out this list of the best sailing apps and see for yourself how they can improve your time out on the water.

Information That The Best Sailing Apps Should Have

1. Navigation: Planning your daily route according to marine traffic, covered distances as well as general improvement of the sailing voyage.
2. Weather Forecast: Accurate information about the weather forecast for the next hours and days.
3. Safe Anchoring: Ensuring that your moored sailboat will remain intact and won’t float off.

Best Sailing Apps 2021

There are many apps available for sailors, and each one can offer various information for both offshore and onshore. Nowadays, some sailing apps cover a wide range of sailing info and the best part is that you can download them for free. From navigation tools to tutorial guides, let’s see the best phone and tablet apps for sailing!

Boating by Navionics

I strongly recommend you to download this app! Even though I’m not an app expert, I believe that this is by far the best navigation app. It includes a lot of features such as an accurate nautical chart (with depths and reefs), great anchorage information as well as lighthouses and floor plans of ports. Moreover, it keeps track of your speed and routes to check them later if you need to. Like this you’re able to monitor the speed of your vessel, the distance covered, and know anchorages.

Even though it requires payment for some of its features, there’s a free trial in order to check if the app suits you. If you want to have full access to its maps and full features, you can pay an annual subscription. However, this applies if you have your own sailboat. In case you’re sailing on chartered sailboats then you can benefit from the app’s free features.

Source: Navionics Website

Windy: Wind Forecast and Marine Weather

Windy is a free app that provides a ten days forecast animated panel, with no ads at all! It’s extremely user friendly and covers many layers such as waves, winds, temperature, rainfall, among others. Moreover, it allows you to choose the forecast model i.e. NEMS, ICON, ECMWF, or GFS.

Source: Windy App

On Course – Marine Traffic

This app is really useful when you’re sailing in high traffic waters. The first step to take when you’ve downloaded the OnCourse app is to register your sailboat, and subsequently, your phone will act like an AIS device. You can also broadcast your current position and get information about all the vessels around you. So, in case you see a huge 800 feet ship approaching you, the collision sound will make sure to alert you, on time!

Source: Google Play

Aye Tides

Though this app is not free (7,99$) it is definitely the most popular sailing app. AyeTides displays tides and currents for over 12,500 locations worldwide and the great thing is that it doesn’t require a network connection. So, in case you sail in tidal waters, it will be of great use. What’s more than providing tide charts, the app can keep you away from dangerous shallow areas. Last but not least, it can also help you predict future conditions in order to find the best anchorage for the night, which is always a big plus.

Source: App Store

WindFinder

WindFinder provides detailed information about wind, tides, and weather forecasts in more than 8,000 locations worldwide. There’s also the WindFinder Pro for just 5,99$, in case you want to have access to all of its features. Moreover, it has animated maps for temperature and precipitations, topographic maps, and satellite images. It’s of great help for the weather forecast as you can pinpoint a spot and then simply use a slider to check it for the next 7 days ahead.

Source: WindFinder Website

Anchor Alarm

Anchor Alarm constantly monitors the current position of your sailboat and provides you safe anchorage. When you’re spending the night outdoors, you have to do it under favorable circumstances. So, this app provides this key feature for you. The first step when you download the app is to determine the maximum estimated radius for a safe stay, then hit activation and you are ready to go. If the app detects more movement than allowed, then an alarm will sound to let you know.

Source: Google Play

What Knot to Do

This app is made by Columbia and shows you the most essential knots for sailing. In case you’re a beginner it’s really useful having that app. But even if you’re an experienced sailor, it’s normal to get confused sometimes over the knots. It’s totally free and without any ads, so I believe that it’s a great little extra knot-knowledge app on your phone.

Source: App Store

Go Sailing

Go Sailing is a great communication app that allows you to connect with other people that are also passionate about sailing. It’s basically a social media platform for sailors that enables you to share tips and experiences with others and even find spare parts in case of an emergency. Moreover, you can find the best local spots when you’re out cruising and it’s a great way to be part of a community that shares the same hobby with you.

Source: Go Sailing App

Boat Us App

The BoatUs app offers continuous access to boat towing and sailing hazards in many locations as well as dockside assistance, in case an unexpected emergency occurs. Furthermore, it provides useful tips for any possible mechanical failures and accidents. In addition to that, it has useful information about marine data including forecasts and small craft advisories. Basically, this app is a local guide because it provides prices and services about mooring, fishing, boat repair, and general local info about a place.

Source: Boat Us App

Sail Flow

Sailflow is an app that helps you plan a sailing voyage as well as for getting weather information from 50,000 weather stations. Above all, the app uses real-time and accurate weather data. This is something essential when planning sailing voyages and you have to be sure about the weather conditions in an area.

Source: SailFlow App on Google Play

Best Sailing Apps – Summary

After my app-sailing research, I came to the conclusion that these are the best sailing apps available right now. Like I mentioned in the intro, there are a lot of sailing apps for both iPhone and Android. Moreover, there’s an alternative available to these apps, as you can usually find at least 1 or 2 similar apps to the above-mentioned ones.

In other words, it all comes down to your preferences, lifestyle, and needs when sailing. In any case, these sailing apps can totally be useful to you in order to improve your seafaring experience. Especially, if you are a beginner, because sailing requires skills and thus can be dangerous for inexperienced sailors. Sometimes it can even be for the experienced ones! That’s why it’s practical to have an app at your phone that will provide you weather, anchorage, and navigation info. So, give it a try and comment below to tell me about your sailing app experience!