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Learn to sail

Virtual regatta games and nautical simulators online

  • Alvaro G
By Álvaro García
10 April, 2020
As with other sports or activities, which can be simulated on a computer, sailing and regatta fans have more and more options to enjoy their hobby from the living room.

This is an excellent opportunity to continue competing or playing when the conditions do not allow you to go sailing, to perfect our techniques or simply learn.
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  • Virtual Regatta. The most popular regatta simulator.
  • Virtual Regatta Offshore
  • Virtual Regatta Inshore
  • Sail online
  • VR Regatta. Browse with virtual reality glasses.
  • Sailaway. Set up your boat, learn, travel and compete
  • eSail. Simulator to learn to sail
  • e-regatta. Learn how to compete in regattas
  • Dock your boat. Learn to moor the ship in port
  • Ghost sailor. Create your regattas for real boats
  • And after the online regattas, join the real boat races!

Virtual Regatta. The most popular regatta simulator.

It is one of the best known online regatta games. It was created in 2010 and has become one of the benchmarks for lovers of online sailing competitions. It is possible to play from the computer, as well as from Apple and Android mobile devices, by downloading their app.
Virtual Regatta Inshore


One of the advantages of the Virtual Regatta game is that it is very easy to start using it with minimal knowledge. Many of the world's most important regattas, such as the Ocean Race (former Volvo Ocean Race), Route du Rhum , or the Mini Transat , use Virtual Regatta as their official game, allowing players from home to compete at the same time with the real professional sailors, being able to visualize the positions of the real and virtual boats simultaneously.

It is possible to play for free and participate in the regattas online. If you get good results you can earn credits, which you can also get by paying. With these credits you can purchase equipment for your boat.

We can join other regattas in play or organize a regatta with friends in which we can see the position of each one, their course, speed, etc ... The game allows you to communicate with your friends by sending messages to your colleagues.



There are two versions of the game: Virtual Regatta Offshore and Virtual Regatta Inshore. The first version consists of long-lasting regattas, which can last days or weeks. The Inshore version is short races of 5 or 10 minutes.

Virtual Regatta Offshore

Virtual Regatta Offshore
Virtual Regatta Offshore

In this version, the game organizes different regattas throughout the year that are held on the same dates as the official regattas: Vendée Glibe, Volvo Ocean Race, Route du Rhum, etc ... The route and the weather conditions are the same that sailors experience in reality. On some occasions, regattas other than the real ones are also organized, with fictitious routes.

In this version of the game more than 400,000 players have participated at the same time and it has organized challenges against professional sailors.

Virtual Regatta Inshore

Virtual Regatta Inshore
Virtual Regatta Inshore


This is a simulator of shorter regattas, which can last between 5 and 10 minutes approximately. It competes with the official rules of the regattas and the wind conditions and the effect that some boats have on others are very realistic.

Sail online

From the web sailonline.org you can participate in this simulator of strategy for ocean navigation. You will not find such elaborate graphics, but you will be able to compete against other users on ocean routes in which you must take into account the course and the strategy that we want to continue taking into account the real weather, which makes the experience more realistic.

When accessing the simulator you will find a fairly intuitive screen, which is ideal for those who do not have much knowledge. Regattas can last days or weeks. All the participants start at the same time at a specific time on a day and you will be able to access the game from time to time to correct the course or schedule a change of course whenever you want, depending on the weather forecast.

Sail online
Sail online


The game has two types of regattas, the fleet regatta or the time regatta. In the first case, you have a prior time to practice and one hour before departure, all boats are at the starting line. At this previous hour you can chat and schedule orders for the ship, but the ship will not move until departure. The regattas by time are made by each user when they want and a ranking of the best players is being established.

VR Regatta. Browse with virtual reality glasses.

In this case we find a virtual reality game, to play with virtual reality glasses that will allow us to have a much more real experience. The graphics, sounds and interactions are really accomplished.
VR Regatta - Oculus launch trailer

The simulator includes learning sections to learn the basics of sailing: terminology, bearings, maneuvers ... We can play alone or in multi-player mode against other users.

There are also sections to experience sailing on a galleon, a small cruise, dinghy sailing or night sailing under the stars.

Sailaway. Set up your boat, learn, travel and compete

Sailaway is an ideal sailing simulator for navigating the oceans, simulating navigation in storms or learning navigation maneuvers. You can simulate navigation with different types of boats, customizable with all kinds of textures and settings.

The game includes a community for sharing trips and chatting with other users. It is possible to invite others to your boat to help you with the maneuvers or invite them to continue your journey. There is also the possibility of organizing regattas and setting our best time on the ranking tables.

In sailaway they have tried to make a game with a very realistic simulation including: sail trimming, real meteorology, real waves, realistic water color, real position of the stars and real maps.

In the following video, YouTube user Fralof shows us how Sailaway works:
Sailaway - The Sailing Simulator en español

eSail. Simulator to learn to sail

This a simulator more oriented to the learning of sailing, than to the competition. The simulator consists of learning how to navigate a 36-foot boat, and then accept different challenges to complete. It is an excellent learning tool for novice sailors who want to consolidate their newly learned theoretical knowledge, just before putting it into practice.

You will be able to learn the handling of the sails, how to anchor, how to maneuver the boat when you arrive in port, etc ... The game includes tutorials and learning scenarios to put us to the test and learn to master a ship with solvency.
eSail - The Sailing Simulator making waves!

e-regatta. Learn how to compete in regattas

e-regatta is an interactive regatta game that allows you to play from your computer or mobile devices. It is not a game of graphic designs as elaborate as other proposals, but it is a very addictive simulator.

To play you need to register. Every week a scoreboard is reset and winners can earn real prizes donated by game partners. The simulation of the regatta is done with J70 boat models. It is also possible to play in solitary mode, against other ships that the machine manages.

The simulator is very well thought out to learn the rules of a regatta. In fact, on the youtube channel of e-regatta it is possible to consult some videos that explain these rules.
e regata

Dock your boat. Learn to moor the ship in port

Dock your boat is a simulator to understand the behavior of a boat, especially when we maneuver in port. The simulator will allow us to practice the maneuvers in a port with different current and wind conditions.

The simulator allows to control the ship's rudder and the motor, as well as the moorings in port. The different visualizations will allow us to understand the forces that are generated in the boat to turn, advance and go backwards. We can configure the wind and current conditions to practice our maneuvers in more or less difficult conditions.

The simulator allows us to practice in different scenarios that vary the space for mooring in port and also allows us to create our own scenarios. We can also choose the size of the boat with which we want to practice.

Dock your Boat - App Presentation in English

Ghost sailor. Create your regattas for real boats

Ghostsailor is not a game as you would normally think of. This time if you will need to get on a real ship. With this application it is possible to create a race course with "virtual buoys" that an administrator places on the map. Once configured, a departure time is established and the position of the boat is controlled with the mobile's GPS.
Ghost Sailor App
Ghost Sailor App

And after the online regattas, join the real boat races!

At Sailwiz you can find proposals to compete in real regattas in different locations. Once you have put into practice your theoretical knowledge and played to know the basic rules of regattas, at Sailwiz you can find proposals for skippers who participate in different types of regattas and offer places on their boats.

If you are interested in joining any of the crews, you can check the regatta section in Sailwiz or subscribe below with your email and you will receive regularly in your email the best proposals published in Sailwiz:
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  • Alvaro G
    Álvaro García
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