Start better. Get OCS'd less
You practise, you take starts seriously, and you pay for this yourself. This page is about the thirty seconds that decide the race, and what happens to them when the line stops being a guess.
You never know exactly where you were on the line
Everyone has done it. You held back because you could not be sure, and watched the fleet go. Or you went for it, got called, and spent the next hour wondering whether you were actually over.
The line is the one place in the race where a metre matters and nobody can measure it.
Set a line, set a countdown, go
Pin and committee boat, windward and leeward marks, and a countdown you pick in one tap. Rolling starts keep the sequence going so you can take start after start without resetting anything.
On a race day the same countdown is pushed from the committee boat instead, spoken aloud, so the whole fleet is running off one clock.
Solo Mode, in the RaceZen app
The line is measured, not guessed
Ping the pin, ping the committee boat, and RaceZen holds the line itself — 88 metres in this one — with the distance to the first mark and to the finish alongside it.
Quick Line sets it in a single tap, and the countdown sits directly underneath it.
Quick Line, in the RaceZen app
Four numbers, readable at arm's length
Speed, heading, VMG and heel, big enough to take in without leaving the tiller. The status bar underneath carries the countdown, then OCS or CLEAR, then RACING — pushed from the committee boat, nothing to press.
The live display, as it appears on the water
Then replay it and find the second you lost
Your track and everyone else's, at 8x or frame by frame, with the wind trace down the side. Watch the approach again and see who came in from where.
Race replay in the RaceZen app
Measure yourself against the fleet, not your memory
Your speed, VMG, heel stability, tacks, ground lost per tack and time overstood — next to the fleet average for the same race. It is uncomfortable reading, and it is the fastest way to get better.
Vitals, boat versus fleet average
Questions sailors ask
What do I actually see while I am sailing?
- Four big numbers: speed, heading, VMG and heel — large enough to read at arm's length on a wet boat.
- A status bar underneath that changes by itself: the countdown, then OCS or CLEAR, then RACING.
- Nothing to tap. You set the phone up before you launch and then leave it alone.
How does the start countdown work?
- On a race day the countdown is sent from the committee boat, so every boat is on exactly the same clock.
- It is spoken aloud as well as shown, so you can keep your head out of the boat.
- Practising on your own? Solo Mode lets you set your own line and countdown, and rolling starts let you take one start after another without resetting anything.
How do I know whether I was over the line?
- Your screen shows OCS or CLEAR, so you are not trying to read a recall flag on a mast a kilometre away.
- The call is made against a line that has been surveyed at both ends, not against your own phone's guess.
- Once you are back behind the line it clears by itself.
- The race committee still has the final say and can confirm, change or correct anything.
Do I need a special phone?
- No. RaceZen runs on ordinary iPhones and Android phones and you can start with the one in your pocket.
- If you are racing seriously, a dual-band phone is the tier we recommend — there is a list of exact models on the home page.
- Plenty of sailors end up with a cheap second phone that lives on the boat, so the phone they need ashore stays dry.
What can I look at once I am ashore?
- A replay of the race with your track and everyone else's, at speed or frame by frame, with the wind alongside.
- Your speed, VMG, heel stability, number of tacks, ground lost per tack and time spent overstood.
- All of it next to the fleet average for the same race, so you can see where you actually lost time rather than where you think you did.
Will my class let me use it?
- For club and open racing, RaceZen is available now.
- Some classes, including ILCA and RS Aero, currently restrict competitor GPS and electronics. That is a rule for the class to change, not something we can decide.
- Class-legal mode is already built for that situation: the race committee can restrict every boat to a countdown, a compass heading and recall status, and nothing else.
