1. Getting Started
On launch, YachtNav shows a safety notice that must be actively accepted – the app is a navigational aid and does not replace official nautical charts. The chart with the cockpit then opens. All functions are reached via the toolbar at the top of the chart (arrow button to expand): Centre, Routes, Harbours, Charts, Weather, Logbook, Anchor Watch, Emergency and Settings.
Permissions
YachtNav needs access to your location – for position, course and speed in the cockpit, the track and the anchor watch. You can change access at any time under iOS Settings → YachtNav → Location.
Setting up your vessel
Under Settings → Vessel, enter:
- Yacht type: SY (sailing yacht) or MY (motor yacht) – controls the manoeuvre chips in the logbook and the fuel logic.
- Vessel name, MMSI, persons on board: appear in the radio call template on the emergency card.
2. The Cockpit
The instrument bar is built for the helm – large, high-contrast, readable at a glance:
- SOG: speed over ground, large in the centre.
- COG: course over ground.
- Course guide (with an active route): shows the cross-track distance (XTD) graphically. The degree figure is the steering correction – red with a minus sign: steer to port; green: steer to starboard. That brings the boat back onto the intended line.
- Target group: name of the next waypoint, bearing (BTW), distance (DTW), time to go (TTG) and ETA.
- FUEL / REST: hourly consumption at current speed and calculated tank contents (chapter 8).
- GPS: current position accuracy in metres.
The red MOB button sits at the bottom right (chapter 9). Cockpit values are instantaneous: ETA and fuel needed are calculated at the current speed – change speed and the predictions change too.
3. Routes & Navigation
Creating a route
In the Routes tile, create a new route and tap the waypoints directly into the chart. Waypoints and routes can be renamed at any time.
GPX import
Bring finished routes from other programs – OpenCPN, iSailor and others – into the app via GPX import.
Activating a route
Activation makes the route the cockpit's intended line. YachtNav joins at the nearest leg – if you are halfway along the route, navigation starts there, not at the first waypoint. At the same time, track recording starts automatically (can be disabled under Settings → Logbook & Track).
Waypoint switching
Once a waypoint is passed abeam, the app advances to the next one. The arrow buttons in the route bar allow manual switching at any time – for example to skip a waypoint.
Go to
For a spontaneous destination without a route: press and hold the chart at the target – YachtNav sets a direct course. A go-to destination can also be turned into a route.
Harbours & marks
The Harbours tile searches the built-in harbour database – fully offline. With Set mark (in the logbook panel) you mark any position on the chart, for example fishing gear or sightings, and name it freely.
4. Charts & Offline Storage
YachtNav draws on the OpenStreetMap base map with OpenSeaMap seamarks – buoys, lights, fairways. Both are open community projects and not official nautical charts: they serve for orientation; official charts belong on board for navigation.
Offline storage
There is rarely coverage at sea. The download button in the route list therefore stores the charts along each route on the device – base map and seamarks. Progress is shown as a percentage; a tick marks fully loaded routes. Loaded tiles remain until you delete the route or rebuild the storage.
Night mode
Under Charts or Settings → Display, switch on night mode with adjustable dimming (low/medium/high) – for a dark cockpit without glare. Keep screen on prevents the iPad from sleeping while under way.
5. Weather: GRIB Wind
The Weather tile bundles everything about the wind forecast:
- Load forecast: YachtNav fetches GFS wind data (NOAA) for the area of the active route – with a buffer around it. Without an active route, the area around your position is loaded.
- Wind overlay: the wind arrows are drawn directly on the chart. The time slider at the bottom steps through the forecast hour by hour.
- GRIB import: your own GRIB files from other sources can be imported and displayed the same way.
6. AIS & NMEA over WiFi
If your vessel has an NMEA WiFi gateway (multiplexer), YachtNav connects directly to the on-board network:
- Connection: under Settings → NMEA over WiFi, enter host (IP address of the gateway) and port, then enable the connection. The dot shows the connection status.
- AIS targets: received vessels appear on the chart with course and speed.
- Collision alarm: if a target falls below the set limits for CPA (closest point of approach, in nautical miles) and TCPA (time to CPA, in minutes), the app raises an alarm.
The connection runs over the on-board WiFi and needs no internet. AIS only shows vessels with an active AIS transmitter – it does not replace a proper lookout or radar.
7. Logbook & Track
Track recording
The track starts automatically with route activation (can be disabled) or manually in the Logbook panel. Stopping is always manual – so the recording stays continuous across stopovers. The logbook tile glows red while recording.
Recording is crash-proof: YachtNav saves the running track with every entry and additionally every five minutes. After an app restart it continues seamlessly. The chart stays smooth even on week-long passages – very long tracks are thinned out gently and automatically.
Entries
All entries are made in the logbook panel – while recording:
- Manoeuvre chips: on motor yachts Engine started/stopped, Anchor down, Moored; on sailing yachts additionally the sail manoeuvres. Every entry automatically stamps position, SOG, COG and the forecast wind from the loaded GRIB data. The last manoeuvre entry is marked green.
- Watch change: asks for the name of the new watch keeper and writes it into the entry.
- Free logbook entry: for everything else – observations, sail changes, anything notable.
- Hourly position entry: on the hour, the app writes position, speed and wind into the logbook by itself – good seamanship, hands-free (can be disabled under Settings → Logbook & Track).
Viewing & exporting
"View logbook" shows the running recording at any time – even mid-passage. After stopping, the track is saved; from the track list you export it as a PDF logbook (with all entries and stamped data) or a GPX file for other programs.
8. Fuel Calculator
YachtNav keeps a calculated tank balance – from consumption figures and distance travelled.
Consumption figures (motor yacht)
For MY, two points under Settings → Fuel are enough:
- Displacement speed: consumption in L/h at the corresponding speed (e.g. 28 L/h at 7.5 kn).
- Planing: consumption in L/h at planing cruise speed (e.g. 115 L/h at 23.5 kn).
In between, the app converts automatically according to the current GPS speed – below displacement speed the displacement figure applies, above planing speed the planing figure, with interpolation in the transition. On sailing yachts you enter a simple consumption in L/nm or L/h instead.
Engine state
On motor yachts, consumption only counts while the engine is running: "Engine started" in the logbook switches counting on; "Engine stopped", "Anchor down" or "Moored" switch it off.
Cockpit display
FUEL shows the hourly consumption at current speed, REST the calculated tank contents. The route bar shows the fuel needed to the selected waypoint – calculated at the current speed. If the remainder falls below 15 %, the app warns visually and with an alarm sound.
Refuelled & self-calibration
After refuelling, enter the litres via the Refuelled button – as a partial amount or a full tank. After filling up, the app compares real and calculated consumption since the last full tank, showing in which speed ranges the miles were sailed. If the calculation is off, it offers to adjust the consumption figures automatically – so the prediction gets more accurate from passage to passage. Prerequisite: the tank capacity is set in Settings.
9. Safety: MOB, Anchor Watch, Emergency
Man overboard (MOB)
Hold the red MOB button at the bottom right for 0.7 seconds – the brief hold protects against accidental triggering. The app freezes the position and shows bearing, distance and time in the water plus the quick-stop procedure step by step. The MOB position is written to the logbook. After recovery, end the incident with "MOB recovered".
Anchor watch
At anchor: open the Anchor Watch tile, set the anchor at the current position and choose the swing radius. If the boat drags out of the circle, the app raises a loud alarm.
Emergency card
The Emergency tile shows the radio call template for VHF channel 16 – MAYDAY or PAN PAN – with vessel name, MMSI, persons on board and the current position in radio-telephony notation: simply read it out in an emergency. Plus the most important emergency numbers.
Logging a received distress call
If you hear a distress call on the radio, enter the reported position – degrees and minutes or decimal degrees. YachtNav shows it on the chart and can set course to it directly.
10. Settings & Help
Settings are grouped by topic: Language (German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French), Display (night mode, dimming, keep screen on), Logbook & Track (auto-start, hourly entry), Fuel, Vessel, NMEA over WiFi, AIS alarm and Help & Support – which also contains the quick guide right in the app, available offline.
Questions, wishes, found a bug? The support page with FAQ answers the most common questions – for everything else, reach us at with the subject "YachtNav Support".