In development

VMG Watch

A racing instrument on your wrist for windward/leeward sailing. Built for Apple Watch Ultra, with an iPhone app for looking back at every race.

On a windward/leeward course, raw speed is not what wins: what counts is how fast you get up to the windward mark and back down to the leeward one. That is VMG — velocity made good towards or away from the wind. VMG Watch shows it live, leg by leg, on a screen you can read at a glance in full sun, and records the whole race to Apple Fitness.

VMG Watch is made by Orkestraator OÜ. It is not available in the App Store yet.

On the watch

Live numbers

• Speed over ground (SOG) from GPS.
• VMG — your speed straight upwind or downwind. Either SOG or VMG can be the big number.
• Angle to the wind, as true wind angle (TWA) or as the angle off the beam, whichever you prefer.
• Elapsed time of the session.

Legs

The watch splits the race into upwind and downwind legs by itself and lists each one with its VMG, angle to the wind and speed. The leg you are on updates live; reaches are left out of the list.

Race start countdown

• A 5- or 3-minute countdown, run from the Action Button.
• Haptic taps and spoken cues, so you can keep your eyes on the line and the arm down.
• The start is marked on the workout, so the race can be told apart from the pre-start.

Wind

VMG and angle to the wind need the true wind direction. The watch takes it from the best source it has, and always shows which one it is using:

• FCST — a forecast for where you are, from MET Norway, fetched when the session starts.
• PREV — the wind from your previous session, if it is recent.
• AUTO — worked out from your own tacks and gybes once you have sailed a few legs.
• CAL — a sighting: point the watch into the wind (or turn your back to it) and it reads the compass.
• MAN — set by hand with the Digital Crown.

If the wind it is using stops matching how you are sailing, it asks for a sighting.

Made for wet hands

Touch does not work with wet hands or gloves, so everything in a session runs from the Action Button and the Digital Crown. Water Lock comes on by itself after the start. The screen is black with large white and yellow numerals, readable through polarized sunglasses, and it works with the always-on display.

After the race

The session is saved as a Sailing workout in Apple Fitness and Health, with its GPS route on the map, heart rate and energy, and a summary: average VMG upwind and downwind, distance, maximum speed, best 10 seconds, number of maneuvers and the share of them landed. The watch does not need the iPhone with it, and a session survives an app crash.

On the iPhone

• Session list with the place, the forecast and average VMG up and down; stars, notes and search.
• Map of the race, the track colored by leg.
• Leg table with each leg's own wind worked out again afterwards.
• Summary: time, distance, top speed, fastest 10 seconds, best VMG, best leg, tacks and gybes, average heart rate, wind direction and strength, and the forecast at the start.
• VMG by angle to the wind, per tack, to see where you are fastest.
• Rider profile: pick your boat, kite or foil class to start from typical upwind and downwind angles and speeds. After your own windward/leeward sessions it suggests better values, and you decide whether to use them. The profile is sent to the watch.

Units

Speed in knots, km/h or mph, with distance following in nautical miles, kilometers or miles. VMG can use its own unit. Wind strength in knots or m/s. Directions in degrees true.

Requirements

Watch

Apple Watch Ultra with watchOS 26 or later

iPhone

iOS 26 or later, for the companion app

Network

Only for the wind forecast; everything else works offline

Privacy

No account, no analytics, no advertising, no server of our own. Your sessions stay in Apple Health and on your devices. The only things that leave them are a rounded position sent to MET Norway for the forecast and the points Apple Maps needs to name where you sailed. The privacy policy has the details.

Contact

Questions, ideas or interest in testing: info@orkestraator.ee.

Weather forecast data from MET Norway, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Apple, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Ultra, iPhone, Apple Fitness and Apple Health are trademarks of Apple Inc. VMG Watch is not made or endorsed by Apple.