About Dinghy Coach

Why Dinghy Coach exists

Many sailing sessions generate plenty of experience but very little shared understanding afterwards. Dinghy Coach exists to make it easier for groups to look at what actually happened and have more productive conversations about it. It grew out of a familiar coaching frustration: patterns are obvious on the water, but after the session it can be hard to build a clear, shared picture—and to turn “that felt different” into useful feedback. It is equally useful for sailors reviewing their own sessions, sailors comparing with others, and coaches running debriefs.

What it focuses on

• Capturing reliable session data without complex setup
• Making group debriefs easier to run and more consistent
• Supporting comparison when multiple boats sail together
• Keeping the emphasis on learning rather than technology

What it deliberately avoids

• Complex hardware or specialist installations
• Continuous live instruction or automation during sessions
• Turning training into a data-heavy exercise
• Replacing coaching judgement or experience

Who it’s built for

• Sailors who want a clearer picture of what happened and what to change next time
• Groups of sailors and clubs who want a repeatable way to compare sessions together
• Coaches and training centres who want calmer, more objective debriefs

Status

Dinghy Coach is live and in active use. The Android app is available now, tracks upload and open in the debrief tool at app.dinghy.coach, and coach sessions work across a fleet on a local Wi-Fi hotspot. The system has been used at club level through real training sessions, and the feature set is stable enough for regular coached sessions and solo self-review.

It is focused on doing a small number of things well rather than trying to cover every use case. If you want to try it, the debrief tool is open to any browser with no installation required.

Next steps