Comparison

Start Sailing vs Dinghy Sailing

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

Head to head
About

Start Sailing

An illustrated guide for novice sailors, offering tips on yacht crewing, navigation, and safety. Learn essential boating terms and test your knowledge with quizzes. Perfect for preparing for a sailing holiday or gaining confidence on board.

Highlights
  • Illustrated reference guide
  • Yacht crewing skills
  • Basic navigation
  • Safety at sea
  • Boating terms explained
  • Knowledge quiz section
Features
Read full description

Start Sailing: Yachts is an illustrated reference guide for novice sailors who want to have all the essential information to hand, become a useful crew member and build confidence aboard a sailing yacht. Also perfect for sailing schools, the app provides novice sailors with a clear, illustrated learning resource to support practical instruction both ashore and afloat. With more than 100 expert illustrations, the app puts clear, practical information at your fingertips. Learn the parts of a yacht, essential crewing skills, basic navigation and safety at sea, then test your knowledge with quizzes. KEY FEATURES • More than 100 expert illustrations • Clear, practical guidance for novice sailors • Quick access to useful information • Save useful pages to Favourites • Test Yourself online quizzes to support learning • Search to find topics faster • Share app directly with friends • Works offline, so essential information is always with you >>> FULL APP — AD FREE | NO IN-APP PURCHASES | NO SUBSCRIPTION SEVEN MAIN SECTIONS KIT BAG What to bring, clothing, wet-weather gear, toiletries and medication, plus useful gear and gadgets. THE YACHT Parts of the boat, sails, ropes, electrics and using a tender. LIFE ABOARD Living below decks, fresh water, cooking and keeping the yacht tidy. CREWING Keeping watch, crewing skills, essential knots, winches, arriving at and leaving a berth, helming, hoisting sails, points of sail, tacking, gybing, anchoring and more. NAVIGATING Paper and electronic charts, passage planning, pilotage, ColRegs, weather forecasts and tides. SAFETY Lifejackets, first aid, man overboard drill and fire prevention. BOAT WORDS Plain-English explanations of boating terms you may encounter. WHAT’S NEW IN THIS VERSION This update makes Start Sailing: Yachts quicker and easier to use: • Fresh, easy-to-navigate design • Quick access to key sections and Test Yourself quizzes • Search to find information faster • Save useful pages to Favourites for quick reference • Share helpful pages with friends • Improved access to online test quizzes • Reliable offline access to essential sailing information Whether you are preparing for a sailing holiday, joining friends for a short break afloat or simply want to understand what happens aboard, knowing the basics before you go can make the experience safer and more enjoyable. Start Sailing: Yachts helps new sailors move from passenger to active crew member, with practical guidance that is easy to understand and quick to find when needed. Thank you for choosing Start Sailing: Yachts. Have fun afloat.

About

Dinghy Sailing

This app provides sailing navigation instruments, replacing expensive digital equipment. Mount your device to your vessel to display up to eight instruments, including race timers and flags. Customize your display by enabling, disabling, and rearranging instruments.

Highlights
  • Replaces expensive digital instruments
  • Displays up to eight instruments
  • Race timer functionality
  • Flag display
  • Customizable instrument layout
  • Vertical device mounting
Features
Read full description

Dinghy Sailing is a useful tool for sailors. It can replace expensive digital instruments. Mount your iPad or iPhone to your vessel in a vertical position (either landscape or portrait). Dinghy Sailing displays up to eight instruments. Use the tabs to select the race timer, flags and instrument editor. You can enable/disable each instrument and drag to rearrange the order of the instruments on display.

Screenshots

Start Sailing4 screens
Dinghy Sailing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Dinghy Sailing at Free against Start Sailing's $2.99. Dinghy Sailing also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 52 months). Start Sailing's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On rating, ratings volume, ads 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

Dinghy Sailing is free to download; Start Sailing costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Start Sailing against 5.0 for Dinghy Sailing. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Start Sailing ships an update every 52 months, Dinghy Sailing every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Start Sailing versus Dinghy Sailing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStart SailingDinghy Sailing
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 52 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Other HatGordon Aspin

Customer experience

Start Sailing

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Dinghy Sailing

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Start Sailing

No in-app purchases

None

Dinghy Sailing

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Start Sailing free?
Start Sailing costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dinghy Sailing free?
Dinghy Sailing is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Start Sailing or Dinghy Sailing?
Start Sailing and Dinghy Sailing are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Start Sailing or Dinghy Sailing have ads?
Neither Start Sailing nor Dinghy Sailing shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Start Sailing or Dinghy Sailing?
Start Sailing ships an update every 52 months, and Dinghy Sailing every 9 days. Most recently, Start Sailing was updated on November 3, 2026 and Dinghy Sailing on October 30, 2026.

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