[wallster]

I was wondering if anyone knows of any realistic sailing simulators. I was able to find a lot that focused on racing but was wondering if there were any others that focused on learning to sail and had more boats than the racers. Thank you for any and all help.

 

[Donna_F]

Virtual Sailor isn't free, if that's what you're looking for, but I have a LOT of fun with it.

Virtual Sailor - Virtual Sailing Simulator

You can change everything from the weather, current, tide, opacity of the water, even have whales.

 

[irmedic]

I like Sail Simulator 5, it's pretty cool.

sailsimulator.com

We should get a race night going here.

 

[vtsailguy]

Cwind?

Not that sophisticated, but I spent the winter racing against my 11 and 9 year old. They really understand short distance courses and tacking now!

 

[jimgo]

VT, thanks for that recommendation. To those who have posted, I don't mean to hijack the thread, but how hard are the other programs to use? I have an 8 and (almost) 6 year old. Can they play any of them? I like the idea of Cwind being an iPhone app, too, because I can set up races amongst us.

 

[vtsailguy]

I have an 11, 9 and 7 year old. We race on cwind against each other, you can do a multiplayer thingy....

 

[Barquito]

I haven't used simulators very much, but, with my learning style, they don't seem to help much. I find that in learning to sail there is an intellectual component and a 'tactile' component. The intellectual component can come from books. You need to understand the forces acting on the boat. The 'tactile' component is actually being out there. Feeling the wind. Figuring out how to move about on the boat. Learning the nuances of the equipment on the boat.

 

[DayDreamer77]

Going to have to check those out. Thanks for the info.

 

[Wandersome]

OK so how about a simulator that works with Mac?

Wandering...

 

[Dimitri]

I recently found a new one; realsail.net
It is pretty easy to use and replicates the real racing conditions very accurately. highly recommendable!