iRegatta App (iOS & Android)

[Paul White]

iRegatta Pro is probably one of the most comprehensive and powerful sailing apps available. However, having all those functions is great but it’s not so easy to use them on a phone, especially with wet fingers. Also the navigation of the various screens is difficult and the user interface is inconsistent.  For example, some screens slide to change, others require you to press a Cancel button – some screens have text sub-menus and Cancel is just text which is not always easy to see in sunlight. It is not possible to group waypoints but you can import them from GPX co-ordinates.

iRegatta is mostly also aimed at larger boats with NMEA outputs from various instruments – wind direction, wind speed, transducers etc which won’t be applicable to the Weta. It will use the built in GPS and mobile mast co-ordinates for data readouts but this will not be as accurate as having a NMEA device.

Because the screen is so busy, and because of some small menus which are difficult to read in sunlight, it may be better to use this app on  a tablet.

Features include

Start Mode – with unlimited coundown and pursuit start timer, skip to next minute, line bias, distance to line, time to line (from generated polar). Set the start boat and bouy position by cliking on a button or entering co-ordinates/selecting a saved waypoint.

Race Mode – with configurable outputs: SOG, COG, Speed, Bearing, Distance, Pitch, Roll, Compass Bearing, Distance to Layline, Optimum TWA, Optimum Speed, Polar Speed, VMC, Turn Degrees, and various NMEA outputs.  Speed histogram, lift/header histogram

Navigation mode – with unlimited waypoints and routes. Waypoints can be set by co-ordinates, by dropping a pin on the map or by using the phone camera to take a bearing! Once you have set and selected a route you can also skip to the next waypoint if you have set it to do so via a configurable distance and you can skip manually too. For courses without permanent marks you can set the position of them as you pass.

Layline Indicator – shows you when you are on the layline for an upwind mark.

Tacking/Wind Angle  – enter wind speed (if no NMEA instruments) tacking and wind angles or calculate them by setting button on each tack.

Speed/Distance chart – generated from live data

Sailing History – Generated Polar diagram (Can be imported or exported), max speed, distance sailed.

NMEA outputs: Shows all available NMEA outputs in a grid

AIS: Shows the track of other boats that have AIS transmitters (if you have NMEA radar)

Pro: Very comprehensive and powerful combined racing and navigation app that covers all the functions that usually require dedicated hardware. Add ons: Support for Pebble for remote control and data output. Post race analysis tool also available.

Con: Inconsistent user interface, lack of contrast in icons can make it difficult to read in sunlight. Pop-up compass is very irritating. Navigating between the screens with wet hands can be very frustrating.

Summary: There’s no doubt iRegatta is a very powerful App and it could give you an edge if you could use all its features. But the usability issues on a small wet boat like the Weta make it very hard to use and it’s also difficult to see the screen icons unless you’re using a large display like a tablet – but then you have to find somewhere to mount it.

Price: (free 4 min demo) $24.99 for Pro version or buy in app purchases from $10

Weta Rating 3/5

• This topic was modified 10 years ago by Paul White.
• This topic was modified 9 years, 12 months ago by Paul White.

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