Comparison

VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide vs Around the Sticks Lite

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide

Navigate Flemington Racecourse with this guide. Find amenities, view racing form and results, check event schedules, and access transport times. Your essential companion for race days.

Highlights
  • Racecourse map with amenities
  • Racing form, odds, and results
  • Event calendar and on-course experiences
  • Transport times (train and tram)
  • Save favorite runners to tips
Features
Read full description

Enhance your on-course experience by downloading the VRC Flemington Raceday Guide mobile app. It’s the perfect partner for every Flemington Raceday helping you: • Find Your Way – Search the Racecourse map for amenities, entertainment, bars, dining and betting facilities across the racecourse. • Racing Form & Field – Get the field, odds and results for Flemington races. Ahead of every race, you can even save your favorite runners to your Tips. • Find Out What’s On – View the full calendar of upcoming race days to find out what’s happening on the day, including on-course experiences and events. • View Transport Times – See the train and tram times from Flemington Racecourse. By downloading this App, you agree to the App Terms. For more information, refer to the App Terms: - https://www.vrc.com.au/about-vrc/privacy-policy/ - https://www.vrc.com.au/about-vrc/terms-and-conditions/ or email us: privacy@vrc.net.au

About

Around the Sticks Lite

This app provides yacht racers with essential course information, including mark bearings, distances, and turning instructions. It's designed for autonomous operation during races, requiring minimal user input so you can focus on sailing. Never lose your way on the course again.

Highlights
  • Mark bearing, distance, and turn shape
  • Autonomous race operation
  • Offline functionality
  • Accidental activation lock
  • Proximity mode for mark turns
  • Race start timer with audio cues
  • Custom mark and course creation
Features
Read full description

Around the Sticks is a richly featured yacht racing course app, providing clear and concise information on mark bearing, distance, shape of turn, side to pass and steering angle relative to mark. Optimized to perform autonomously in race conditions, the app requires very little user inputs, leaving you free to concentrate on the racing. Never get lost out on course again! Key features include: -Designed specifically for use in race conditions, and operated through a waterproof casing. Phone will not go idle whilst racing, rather the screen will dim and can be awakened by tapping anywhere on the screen (user settable) to save battery. -No internet connection is required whilst racing. -Buttons on main screen are automatically locked to prevent accidental activation. -One touch race: Once race is started (either with race timer or manually), no further inputs are needed from the user (if all mark positions are known to the app) mark rounding is automatic and the target moves automatically to the next mark. Laid marks, (without set/known coordinates) can be incorporated into courses to maintain the sequential structure. In these cases, once rounded an easily activated manual advance option advances to the next mark. -The main screen includes a link to course description, progress through the course, clear and easy to read bearing to and distance to, name and picture of the next mark, the side it must be left to, plus the name of the following mark of the course. Speed Across Ground and VMG to the mark are also included on the main screen. -Once near (distance user settable) to the next mark, proximity mode is activated. The shape of the turn and the bearing to the following mark are pre-emptively displayed, allowing the crew to prepare for the turn -Race start timer with sync signals for 5, 4 and 1 minutes to start, a user-settable timer button and clear audio cues. This can be used to trigger the start of a course within the app, or as a stand-alone feature -Clear help captions help explain features when you're getting started. Tap on a feature to display a caption explaining its function. Once you're familiar with the app, captions can be disabled in user settings -Create and store your own marks and courses, either by entering co-ordinates or "pinging" current location. User courses can be compiled with a combination of existing and custom marks, in a few moments. Ideal for race days where you're handed a new course at the last minute. It's also easy to enter into the app the entire course list for your club at the start of the season, so any course you may require is instantly accessible. Up to 200 courses may be compiled and stored in this way, however the full version of the app is required to navigate within user courses. Up to 3 user marks can be created and stored (200 in the full version of the app) -Around the Sticks free comes pre-loaded with marks and courses from Melbourne, Australia, this database will be extended regularly to include more territories/clubs. The first five courses of each club list are fully functional, the remaining courses can be used for reference purposes, however navigating within them requires the full version of the app. -Warning: As with all navigation apps, continued use of GPS may drain the battery life faster than normal. It is recommended that the app's easy to use timed screen dimming feature is activated to minimize this.

Screenshots

VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide4 screens
Around the Sticks Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Around the Sticks Lite at none against VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide's shown. Around the Sticks Lite also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 67%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). On price and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide ships an update every 3 months, Around the Sticks Lite monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 2 level
VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide versus Around the Sticks Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVRC | Flemington Raceday GuideAround the Sticks Lite
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVictoria Racing Club LtdTim Metherall

Customer experience

VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide

Written reviews6 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Around the Sticks Lite

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide

No in-app purchases

None

Around the Sticks Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide free?
VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Around the Sticks Lite free?
Around the Sticks Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide or Around the Sticks Lite have ads?
VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide shows ads; Around the Sticks Lite does not.
Which is updated more often, VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide or Around the Sticks Lite?
VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide ships an update every 3 months, and Around the Sticks Lite monthly. Most recently, VRC | Flemington Raceday Guide was updated on September 7, 2026 and Around the Sticks Lite on June 1, 2026.

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