Hello everyone,

I developed a new and free Android app to help record and playback sailing GPS tracks. My original motivation was to be able to listen to my smartphone output VMG to me as I was sailing, but its purpose has evolved to include offering a free and easy way to record and reply sailing regattas online.

Since it's winter here in Toronto and I can't do much testing with it on the water, I'd like to ask those of you lucky enough to still be sailing in December, if you could try out the app and let me know what you think.

The app is called GoFastHow (available on https://play.google.com) and my website is http://gofasthow.com

The app and web service is still very new and there are bound to be some issues to iron out, but I'd appreciate some feedback as to what works, what you like/dislike, would like to see etc.

Thanks,

-Kosta Bazos
H16, Nacra 5.8, Prindle 19
gofasthow.com

so it shows you a track of were you have sailed?

Hi

this looks very nice, i will see to get our next sailing on your website.

if i try to see your race on the website but i get a error " Communication error error communicating with the server (error.receiving.race)"

i used a track software to animate my tracks from a race around shelter island
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlUtFU321aA&

bernd

nacra 5.8 supercat19 dragonfly800

Hi Bernd, (and fellow 5.8 sailor!)

I checked out your video link and i'm wondering what software you used to record/animate your tracks?

Since you've already gone to the effort to record your sailing tracks with other software, I'd really like to hear your thoughts on gofasthow after you tried it again. (I believe I fixed the issue you were seeing on the web player -- I didn't see it on my development laptop, but I think I know what might have caused it)

Although I'm building this in my spare time, I'd like to keep adding features (on the android app and web player) if there is any demand from the sailing community, so I'm open to ideas from fellow sailors.


---------------------------
this looks very nice, i will see to get our next sailing on your website.

if i try to see your race on the website but i get a error " Communication error error communicating with the server (error.receiving.race)"

Hi Optikid,

yes, the race player shows your tracks of where you sailed, but it does more (have a look at the demo video). For instance:

a) you can set arbitrary marks and then the race player calculates elapsed time of each upwind and downwind leg

b) if you're sailing with another boat or two, you can create a virtual race (no need for a comittee boat) and the race player will calculate finish times (adjusted) for each boat. You can set arbitrary start and finish lines using the race player app (on the website)

c) it shows a running speed graph as you replay your tracks or manually 'drag' your boat around the track

d) the android app lets you set upwind/downwind marks on the water, and displays your VMG (speaks it too) while you're sailing (VMGs are also visible on the tracks on the web site)

My thoughts on point (a) was that if I am practising without any other boats on the water, I can sail several upwind/downwind legs and then compare them back on shore (without having to worry about a stop watch). In fact, one of the features I'd like to build in to the race player, is the ability to overlay one of my upwind (or downwind) legs over another, and see them as if they are actually 2 different boats racing at the same time.

Cheers,

-Kosta Bazos

optikid

so it shows you a track of were you have sailed?

i downloaded it haven't used it yet

hi Kosta Bazos

i used TopoFusion http://www.topofusion.com/ to animate the tracks and than a video screen capture software

to analyses my tracks i use GpsActionReplay http://gpsactionreplay.free.fr/
it has all the information you need to see your sailing performance.

happy new year

going sailing now on my trimaran :)

bernd

ny long island

Any chance of this crossing over to the Apple market? I have contemplated something like this for a few years now but do not have the appropriate skill set and would have to start from scratch.

Hi Rider,

Unfortunately I haven't written anything for iphone either, and I'm not planning to at this point. But there are many iphone apps that record GPS tracks and let you save or send them as Google-compatible KML files. So I think what I would do to support iphone (and other apps), is to create a tool on the website that would let you upload and import KML files. No definte timeline for this though, I'm currently pretty busy with my regular paying gig.

-Kosta

Thanks Kosta. Any VKM's links appear promising as well.

I am just looking for a practical solution for tracking cats and centerboard boats during club level races for playback. Most of our bigger boats use a proprietary system which is too large and expensive for small craft.

VKM what hardware / software are you using to record the tracks.

Thanks!

hello Rider_55

i use the Garmin Foretrex 201 for yeas now. they last about 2-3 years until the salt water will gets the better of them.

looks like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYrRyRhZCNg&

bernd

vkm

i use the Garmin Foretrex 201 for yeas now.
bernd

Do you know if Foretrex 401 (for hiking) also has speed feature?

By the way - good fishing on that video...

--
Adam Bartos
Nacra 5.0
SolCat 18 (sold)
Lake Zurich, IL
--

it wont let me upload my tracks

Hi Optikid,

Thanks for trying it out, and sorry to hear you had trouble uploading your tracks. Can you tell me what the error message is? Can you double-check that you're online and the userid/pwd are correct and for your gofasthow.com account?

Also, please reply to gofasthow@gmail.com rather than this forum, since I'd rather not clog this message thread with support questions. If it is a general problem that others might need to know about, I will post back here after we figure out what went wrong.

Thanks,
-Kosta

Just wanted to update the issue that OptiKid reported, when trying to upload tracks using the GoFastHow android app, since it affects anyone else who downloaded the first release of the app.

It turns out a recent update on the server caused this problem, but the solution requires getting the latest version of the app from Google's Play store (0.6.8).

Thanks OptiKid for trying it and reporting the issue.

-Kosta

i updated it and it works fine