Sail Tactician vs Regatta Pulse
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sail Tactician
This app transforms your Apple Watch into a tactical instrument for sailing races. It provides real-time data, start line assistance, and performance analysis to help sailors improve their racing strategy and speed.
- Audible countdown with voice cues
- Real-time start line metrics
- VMG to upwind/downwind targets
- Tack and gybe suggestions
- Live compass with no-sail zone arcs
- Automatic GPS track recording
- Standalone watch recording
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A sailing instrument for Apple Watch and iPhone, for racing, training or a day sail — start-line tactics, live VMG, a coach that calls your drills, and a logbook that shows what went well and what to work on. START STRONG Ping the pin and committee boat and the app does the rest: distance to line, time to line, time to burn, and which end is favored, updating every second. The countdown speaks every whole minute from ten down and every second from 30 out — spoken numbers or beeps, a long tone at the gun. Record from the watch or the phone alone, or mount the phone and run it from the watch. On Apple Watch Ultra the Action button starts and syncs the countdown. Black Box shows nothing but the clock and still records the race in full. SAIL FAST A live compass with your no-sail zone drawn from your own boat's angles. VMG with a target heading and tack/gybe calls. The app tracks the wind as you sail, tells you whether you're lifted or headed. Build your own screens, full-width stacks or grids up to 8-up, and lock one to stay class-compliant. CRUISE, TOO Choose Cruise for a day sail: just Start, no countdown. See sunset, the forecast and GPS and battery readiness before you leave; afterwards, your track on the map, distance, top speed and your season so far. TRAIN WITH A COACH Pick a workout and the coach calls it a word at a time — TACK, GOOD, HEAD UP — spoken from the watch or the phone, with a tap on the wrist. It counts your reps and scores each one against your own usual turn. Tap any drill to learn the maneuver: what it is, the steps, a diagram from your boat's angles, and your reps so far. Eleven presets or your own, run from the watch alone or with the phone mounted. Training is marked beta in the app. KNOW YOUR BOAT Over fifty classes built in — ILCA 7 (Laser), Optimist, Snipe, Melges 24, J/70, Etchells, MC Scow, Nacra 17 and more — each with its own upwind and downwind angles, or define your own. Save your boats: sail number, hull length and rigging notes. Mounted, the phone reads live heel and trim from one tap on level water. REVIEW EVERY SESSION Every session lands on a map, colored by speed, with course, heel, trim and heart rate. The pre-start is kept apart, with a Start tab on your approach to the gun. Replay that jumps between maneuvers. Speed and VMG charts, a polar diagram with the angle you held on each tack, port vs starboard, upwind/downwind splits, and every tack timed from when you crossed the wind. The Coach is a map and one finding at a time, each with the seconds it cost, with a tacking cone on every beat showing where you overstood. Place the windward mark afterwards and the app works out the wind from it. Trim or clip a race; the original is never touched. The watch shows the same analysis cards. RACE AGAINST YOUR FRIENDS Share a race with the sailors you raced against and compare boat-on-boat on iPhone: who led when, where the race changed hands, and a two-boat replay lined up at the gun. FREE TO SAIL, PRO TO GO DEEPER Free to download and sail with: countdown timer, Black Box, cruise mode, compass, live speed and heading, your first five recorded sessions with full analysis, tacking drills, and import and export. Every session is recorded and saved on every tier. Pro is one subscription, monthly or yearly — first month free — unlocking start-line tactics, VMG and wind shifts, every drill, race sharing and comparison, and your full history. FOLLOWS YOU EVERYWHERE Sessions sync privately between your devices over iCloud, and the app says plainly when they don't. Sign in with Apple is optional; everything works signed out. Speeds in knots, MPH or km/h; distances in nautical miles, miles or kilometers. Export STX, GPX, CSV, KML or TCX. Import STX, and in beta FIT from Garmin, COROS and other watches, GPX, CSV, TCX, Vakaros VKX and NMEA 0183. Capsize and knockdown detection requires the iPhone mounted to the boat. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Regatta Pulse
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A full start-line instrument, running on the iPhone and Apple Watch you already own. Distance to the line, TIME-TO-BURN and the favored end, live, in digits you can read in sun and spray. For one-design and club racers who keep arriving late to the line. One payment, no subscription. THE START • Sequence timer (ISAF 5-4-1-0, 3, 4 or 10 minutes) with whistle sound signals and a final count. • Ping the PIN and the BOAT end from the phone or with one tap on the watch: the app computes the line and your distance to it (DTL). • TIME-TO-BURN: how many seconds you have to spare (or are missing) to hit the line at the gun at your current speed. • Line bias: which end is favored for the wind you entered. RACING • Speed (SOG), heading, max and average in giant race-display digits. • Heel and trim from the phone's motion sensors, with a configurable target band. • Recent heading shift to spot wind shifts. • Performance against J/24 polars for the wind you entered. • Mark tacks, buoy roundings and notes without letting go of the tiller: one tap on the Apple Watch. APPLE WATCH • The display mirrored on your wrist: timer, DTL, BURN and the start line graphic. • Strong haptics at every sequence mark and at the start. • Works on its own (no iPhone): the watch's GPS for light racing. AFTER SAILING • Session replay on the map with a time scrubber. • Tack, start and speed analysis; progress across sessions. • Export GPX or a full JSON backup. Your data is yours. • Optional cloud backup: create an account and every session is copied on its own when it ends, even if you close the app. Switch iPhones, sign in, and it is all there. Edit a title or a note on one device and it shows up on the other. TRIAL AND PRO • Try the full app for 30 days: the clock starts with your first recorded session, not with the install. • After that, a single purchase unlocks everything for good. It is not a subscription. • Free forever: the start sequence timer with whistle signals and the big heading and speed screen. • Anything you recorded stays viewable, analysable and exportable. No ads, no tracking. The account is optional: without one, not a single byte leaves your phone. Made by racers, for racers. NOTICE: Regatta Pulse is a sports support instrument. It is not a navigation aid or safety equipment, and its sound alerts are not official signals: the only valid signals are those made by the Race Committee. Command of the vessel and the duty to keep a proper look-out rest with the skipper. Terms of use: https://regattapulse.com.ar/terms.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Regatta Pulse at none against Sail Tactician's 1. Regatta Pulse also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 8 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Sail Tactician sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $29.99 per year. Regatta Pulse asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sail Tactician ships an update every 8 days, Regatta Pulse every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sail Tactician | Regatta Pulse |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Graham Hutchinson | NICOLaS SALARI |
In-app purchases
Sail Tactician
- Sail Tactician Pro1 Month trial$29.991 Year
Regatta Pulse
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sail Tactician free?
Is Regatta Pulse free?
Do Sail Tactician or Regatta Pulse have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sail Tactician or Regatta Pulse?
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