Preparing Your Sailing Data
Before you can analyze your data, we need to do a little bit of preparation and organization. ChartedSails makes this easy and intuitive.
Collecting Files
Most methods of data capture will provide you with a file. If you are capturing data for multiple boats and multiple days, you will quickly end up with a lot of files. To make the most of your data, you need to organize it effectively.
If you are only capturing data for one or two boats, this will not be a problem.
For bigger groups, a practical advice here, is to create a folder for each event and store all the files (for each day and each boat) in it. We recommend including the date, sail number and name of the boat in the filename. It will make things easier for you later.
Once uploaded in ChartedSails, your data will be organized by boat and by date, and you will not need to worry about this anymore.
Upload Your Data
To start exploiting your data, you will need to upload it to ChartedSails. The process is extremely easy and intuitive. Just click the "UPLOAD" button on your dashboard and drag and drop your file into the upload area. ChartedSails will automatically detect the file type and start processing it.
After processing, ChartedSails will ask you to provide some information such as the name of the boat. If it's the first time you upload data for this boat, the program will also ask you to provide the boat type and the sail number. The boat type is important to properly represent the length of the boat and will also be used for some racing analysis.
If your boat class does not already exist, you can quickly add it.
Add more boats
After uploading your file, ChartedSails will show the sailing activity on the map.
If you were not sailing alone, there are two ways to add more boats to your activity.
When you have all the files
If you already have the files for the other boats, you can add them with the "ADD BOAT" button and repeat the upload process.
When you do not have the files
If you sailed with someone that did not share their data, you can invite them to join the activity and add their data.
Click the "SHARE" button and send them an invitation to join your session. They will get an invite by email and will upload their tracks by themselves. Both of you will see both boats.
You can repeat this process as many times as needed.
Provide wind direction
Sailing insights will obviously depend heavily on the wind direction. ChartedSails requires that you give a general wind orientation before most of the tools become available.
To set the wind direction, use the rotating compass in the top right of the screen and rotate the map until the wind is coming from the top.
Trim your session
It regularly happens that we keep the GPS recording on the freeway back home and this makes for some disturbing maximum speed.
You can easily trim-off data before and after sailing with the "EDIT" button.
We recommend keeping the entire day of sailing. From leaving the dock until you return to the dock. We will discuss later how to highlight specific races in the day.
Tips to Make the Most of Your Data
Your GPS will capture most of the technical information, but we've learned that a few simple notes during your sailing day will make a huge difference in transforming that data into real improvements.
5 Key Things to Record During Your Sail
Even the best GPS can't capture everything. Here are the critical details to note during your sailing session:
Crew Information Who was on board? Different crew weights and skills affect performance.
Sail Configuration Which sails did you use? Note any changes made during the session.
Weather Conditions Record wind speed/direction and wave conditions, including any changes throughout the day.
Start Times Modern sailing GPS devices often capture this automatically, but if yours doesn't, write down the exact time of all starts.
Experiment Details Working on improving jibes? Trying different heel angles? Note the time and nature of any technique experiments you try.
How to Capture These Notes
You don't need a complicated system:
- Use a small waterproof notebook
- Take quick voice memos on your phone
- Snap photos of the crew, whiteboard and sails with your phone
Here's what effective notes might look like:
April 12 - Team: Alex, Maria, Thomas
- 12:30-1:00: Light wind 8-10kts, flat water, tested new jib trimming technique
- 1:15: Wind shifted +15°, increased to 12-14kts
- 1:30-2:45: Five practice starts, working on acceleration
- 2:50-3:30: Three races, using higher pointing angle upwind
Adding Your Notes to ChartedSails
When you first open your session in ChartedSails, add your notes:
In the session title (e.g., "J/70 Training - 15-18kts - New jib")
Using the notes feature on the timeline
Create highlights on the timeline to quickly find interesting moments
Action Step
Before your next sailing session, create a simple template for your notes. Having a structure makes it easier to jot down the important details quickly.
Now that you've learned how to enhance your raw data with effective notes, you're ready to move on to understanding key performance indicators that will help you sail faster.
