Here's the main thing, the goal on Summer Sailstice is for everyone to hoist their main and make some tracks under sail. New tools make it easier to measure and share those tracks. You no longer have to look at the Volvo Ocean race website and think about how they lay down their sailing routes across the globe because you can now do the same. A new app, Boat Book, has combined a log and tracking for you to post your tracks. We posted a race we did the other day - the race was nothing noteworthy but kind of fun to see the tracks. Where is your sailing route for Summer Sailstice?
Boat Book’s Sailing Log picks up the story as it introduces the world’s first automatic sailing logbook.
Boston, MA May 27, 2015 – BoatBook is an innovative application aimed at sailors and boat owners that automatically records the professional and social aspects of a voyage. It allows sailors to create their own logbook, including the sailing routes taken, the boats on which they have sailed on, the performance and sailing data at each point on track as well as other events. This all occurs as you sail while the smartphone is onboard. At the end of the cruise the logbook enables its owner, wherever they are in the world, to participate in sailors’ storytelling and share the voyage including pictures the crew took during the sail with friends, family and social networks.
Easy Swissa, a leader in the global sailing community and a decorated sailor, described the application as revolutionary: “As I see it,” he says, “this will bring change to sailing practices and the sailing culture in general. Sailing Log allows the sail to be documented in an intelligent and applicable manner and enables the sailing community to share their experience. It also encourages sailors to advance their development and introduce sailing to new participants. Sailing is a social sport and using SailingLog allows the accumulation of experiences and photos in a modern way along with the ability to communicate and share them instantly.”
Performance is the main focus
Skippers are required professionally to keep a logbook of each sail they embark on, which should contain data about the route – its start and finish points, track history, sailing speed and direction. Logbook management is currently done in the odd moment of rest, taking pen to paper and often doing the task in a somewhat partial manner.
This is where the application comes into play. Sailing Log offers a logbook operated from any cellular device and it automatically updates itself throughout the voyage. Its unique technology enables it to identify when the sail begins and to document it all the way through to its end. The application documents the speed, heading and mileage, and of course the final destination, which it also identifies automatically. As its technology is GPS based, the smartphone does not need to be connected to a cellular network.
Documenting the performance of the vessel enables sailors to examine and monitor voyages and share the voyage experience with other sailors. So, for example, you can share the sailing route; review the challenges and breakdown improvements in retrospect for future sails. At the end of the voyage, the sailor whether they are the boat owner, skipper or any other invited participant – will have at their fingertips an electronic file that includes the route, its associated data and as many extras as they have selected, such as photos, videos, notes and more.
Whenever, Wherever
Because SailingLog works offline, you can sail everywhere with it. The application’s interface is highly intuitive. All of its functions are accessible, available and inviting which allows anyone to operate it with ease.
Adia Cohen, a skipper and one of the app’s developers, shares her experience with the application: “I have used SailingLog every time I set sail in the last few weeks. I know precisely when each voyage took place, where it was, and what happened over its course. At the end of each trip, I have been able to examine the route and study it, know what the speed was at any point as well as have pictures and notes to document different exciting parts of the journeys. I know exactly where we met dolphins and how the boat responded – needless to say, we turned and sailed with them for a while.”
Private, collaborative and professional
The application, as mentioned, allows sharing, but this is subject to stringent privacy conditions set at the complete discretion of the user. The sailor can choose whether the sailing experience is his or hers alone, or choose between different levels of social sharing.
SailingLog becomes particularly efficient during a rough or challenging sail like rough weather conditions or when racing, as it frees up the skipper and sailor from the need to document the voyage, and enables the easy and immediate addition of information (photo, video and so on), from anywhere on board the yacht. In addition, the application records the sailors career – the miles sailed, where they have sailed, on which vessel and with whom.
This documentation is useful in many scenarios, for example in applications for marine certifications, when chartering a yacht anywhere in the world and others. Brittany Weatherby, North and South American Marketing Manager for Yacht Charter company Sunsail says, “SailingLog is a genius platform for our customers to now be able to document their vacations and pinpoint as though it is a di – the miles sailed, where they have sailed, on which vessel and with whom. This documentation is useful in many scenarios, for example in applications for marine certifications, when chartering a yacht anywhere in the world and others. Brittany Weatherby, North and South American Marketing Manager for Yacht Charter company Sunsail says, “SailingLog is a genius platform for our customers to now be able to document their vacations and pinpoint as though it is a diary when they saw different wildlife, where certain exciting moments took place and to collaborate the information with other members of the same charter. They are able to then take use their sailing history as a very clear sailing resume, opening them up to additional more challenging sailing grounds based on their experience which is easily shared and documented through SailingLog.” This is great and effective as many people who don’t own the boats they sail on have no easy way of documenting their sailing career; this is a fun and easy way to document their journeys.
Experience SailingLog for yourself!
Download on ITunes: http://j.mp/SailingLog
Download on Google Play: http://j.mp/SailingLogGP
About BoatBook
Behind BoatBook the company, you’ll find Erez Aluf and Frank Zvi, two highly experienced technology entrepreneurs who are also passionate sailors. The two took on a technological challenge: to develop a logbook that would do everything on its own, including automatically recording the start and end of the voyage, without the need of a cellular network, thereby allowing the sailor a user experience that connects traditional sailing with progress – via the smartphone. Zvi and Aluf believe that SailingLog will soon be on the smartphone of every sailor in the world, and promise to shortly bring other breakthrough products to the sailing community.
