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Setup guide

From installer to instruments

About ten minutes at the dock, on shore power, with internet. Do it before race week, not during it.

Install and activate

1 · Run the installer

Windows shows a blue “Windows protected your PC” screen because the installer isn't code-signed yet. Click More info, then Run anyway. It then asks for administrator permission, which it needs to open the port your crew's devices connect on.

2 · Start it once, then close it

The first run creates the folder your polar, sails, crew and races live in — at %APPDATA%\SailTac\data. All your data stays there, on your machine.

3 · Enter your license key

Paste the key from your email into the activation screen. It only needs entering once, on any device — it unlocks SailTac for every device on the boat. If you don't have one yet, get a free 30-day trial key.

4 · Try it without instruments

Settings → Demo Mode → Start demo data feeds in simulated wind and boat data so you can explore every screen at the kitchen table. It follows a six-step script on screen.

Demo mode pauses your real instrument sources while it runs, banners the whole app in purple, and switches itself off on every restart — simulated data can never be confused with yours.

Connect your instruments

Settings → add your multiplexer or gateway. A green dot means data is flowing; red means no connection yet. Leave format and speed on automatic unless you know exactly what you have — SailTac listens to the stream and works it out.

Over the network

Type
TCP for a direct connection, UDP if it broadcasts
Host
The IP address of your gateway
Port
Usually 10110

Over USB or serial

Port
Pick your adapter from the list — it appears automatically when you plug it in
Baud
4800 for standard NMEA 0183, 38400 for high-speed (0183-HS)

NMEA 2000 boats

SailTac reads an NMEA 2000 bus directly through a gateway — Actisense NGT-1 (USB), Yacht Devices YDNU-02 (USB, RAW mode) or YDWG-02 (Wi-Fi, RAW mode).

Reading the bus directly is the better option on a race boat: you get wind and heading far more often than a converter can pass along, plus heel angle, rudder angle and AIS — and SailTac can tell you which device each number came from. A converter that turns N2K into 0183 also works, but everything has to squeeze down one slow serial line, so updates are slower and heel and rudder usually don't survive the conversion.

Import your polar

The polar is what turns numbers into judgement: target speeds, performance percentages, optimal angles, and the routing engine itself all come from it. Polars → upload a CSV or an ORC .pol file, or paste the numbers in.

Then tune your target percentages — globally, or per wind speed if your boat is honest in some conditions and optimistic in others. Most programs start at a flat percentage and refine it after a few races.

Sails, crew and the course

Sails → build your crossover chart

Give each sail its apparent wind angle and speed range. On the water the right sail lights up for the conditions you're in, and after the race the analysis can tell you how much of it you spent on the recommended sail.

Helm → add your crew

Add each helmsman once. Selecting who's driving from the top bar is what builds their performance profile over time — by point of sail, wind band, and day versus night.

Route → enter the course

Add your marks from the sailing instructions, in order, and set each one's rounding side. Then fetch the weather and press Optimize to route your polar through the whole course.

Before you leave the dock, press Cache map offline once. It downloads the chart tiles for the course so the maps work with no internet underway.

Get the crew's devices on

Any phone, tablet or laptop on the boat's Wi-Fi opens the same displays in its browser. Nothing to install, no app store.

http://<boat-computer-ip>:3001

To find the IP, open a Command Prompt on the boat computer and run ipconfig. Look for the IPv4 address — usually something like 192.168.1.42.

If a device can't connect, the firewall is the usual culprit. On the boat computer, in PowerShell as administrator:

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="SailTac" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=3001

On a tablet, use the browser's “Add to Home Screen” so it opens full-screen like an app.

On deck

  • Keep Awake — top-right; stops the screen sleeping. On by default.
  • Fullscreen — hides the browser bars so you get the whole screen.
  • Day / Night / Hi-Con — cycles the theme. Night is red-on-black to protect night vision; high contrast is for bright sun.
  • Helm and Sail selectors— keep these current. They're what makes the post-race analysis worth reading.
  • Dashboard — each crew member can save their own layout and load it on their own device.

Before a race

  • Settings → System Health: server up, disk OK, and your instrument source green.
  • Route → refresh the weather the morning of the race. The routing is only as good as its last forecast.
  • Route → select all six weather models before you fetch, if you want the model scorecard to grade all of them afterwards.
  • Route → Optimize on the fresh forecast, and check the leg table's ETA against the forecast window.
  • Route → Cache map offline once more, in case the course moved.
  • Check every mark and its rounding side against the sailing instructions.
  • Helm → confirm the roster, and set who's driving at the gun.
  • Sails → confirm the crossover chart matches the inventory actually aboard.
  • Turn demo mode OFF. (It turns itself off on restart, but check anyway.)

When something isn't working

Start with Data Diagnostics

Settings → Data Diagnostics lists every message arriving, how often, and from which device. That's the difference between “nothing is connected”, “connected but the format is wrong”, and “connected fine, but this boat has no wind sensor”.

It also warns when something the app needs is missing — for example, no heading sensor means wind shifts get computed from COG, which mixes in leeway and current.

My USB adapter isn't in the list

Usually unplugged, missing its driver, or already open in another program — chart software holding the COM port is the most common cause.

Two devices disagree

If two sources send the same measurement — two GPS units, say — Data Diagnostics lets you pick which one to trust.

Heel and rudder widgets don't appear

They only show if the boat actually sends them. That usually means reading the NMEA 2000 bus directly rather than through an 0183 converter.

The app came back empty after a reinstall

Your data lives at %APPDATA%\SailTac\data, not in the program folder. Check that folder before assuming anything is lost.

License questions

Where do I enter my key?

On the activation screen at startup, or later in Settings. Once, on any device — it unlocks SailTac for every device on the boat.

I've lost my key

Have it emailed to you again with the address you bought it with.

What happens when it expires?

SailTac keeps working for 14days past the expiry date with a warning banner, then stops. A renewal sends you a fresh key to paste in. A license should never be the reason you can't race.

I changed the boat's name

Keys are issued against the boat name you gave at checkout. Email us and we'll reissue it — no charge.

Still stuck?

Email scott@sailtacperformance.com. Include what Data Diagnostics shows and we'll get you sorted.

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