Sailing race tracking for sailors Your race, from above
Fly the drone. Find the shift. Share the start.
Little Brother turns the phone or watch you already own into a race tracker. After racing, watch every race back in 3D, see where you gained and lost on a rival, and share drone clips of your start.
- No account
- Nothing to buy
- No signal needed
- Fair racing
Pick your viewpoint: above, down the line, chase, waterline or from the club.
How race tracking works Start on the beach. End at the bar.
Enter your name, sail number, crew and boat once. After that it’s three taps a race.
Rigging your boatStartTap Start while you rig. Tuck your phone in a drybag/pouch, or wear your smart watch.
Back on the beachStopTap Stop when you’re ashore. Recording ends right there.
At the clubSendOnce online, 1-tap upload your phone or watch tracks in seconds.
3D race replays Replay. Learn. Share.
Fly the drone
A 3D virtual drone over your race. Fly it yourself, or let autopilot follow you, a rival or the fleet.
Map view
The whole fleet, one class, just you or a rival pair, at any speed. Colour tracks by speed.
You vs your rival
Speed and course side by side, race by race and leg by leg. See exactly where it was won.
Draw on the chart
Mark the shifts, sketch the laylines and lay ladder rungs while the race plays.
Drone clips in one click
The pre-start, start and first beat as a drone video: 15 minutes of racing in four.
Record your own
Pick the moment and the angle, add your own commentary, and send it to the crew or ask a coach.
Your phone or watch Use what you’ve already got
Will my phone or watch work?
iPhone and Android phones, Apple Watch, Wear OS (Samsung Galaxy Watch, Google Pixel Watch) and Garmin. Newer devices give sharper stats, but every listed device records your race.
Check your phone or watch →Keep it dry for next to nothing
Most modern phones are rated IP68, but that’s a lab test in fresh water, and salt water wears the seals over time.
So we always recommend a £5–10 waterproof pouch, clipped into your buoyancy aid or halyard bag.
Battery friendly
Nothing is sent until you’re ashore. In our testing, even an old iPhone XS tracked a whole regatta day and still had battery left that evening.
Fair & private Built for sailors, not on them
Shows nothing while racing
It’s a recorder, not an instrument. No one gets an edge.
No account, no email
Just your name, sail number, crew and boat.
Nothing outside the sailing area
Geofencing drops anything recorded off the water.
Don’t want tracking?
Choose “sign on, don’t track” and just use it to sign on.
Club not on it yet? Send this to your club
Copy it and send it to your commodore, sailing secretary or race officer. We set the club up for free.
Subject 3D replays for our club races?
I’ve found Little Brother, an app that turns our phones and watches into race trackers and replays every race in 3D. You can fly a virtual drone over the replay and share clips of our starts.
No hardware, no sailor accounts, no extra work for the race officer, and it’s free to try. Could we test it for a race or two?
getlittlebrother.com/clubs
I’ve been looking at Little Brother, a sail tracking app that generates full 3D replays and video highlights of races using just sailors’ phones or watches. You can even fly a virtual drone over the replay to record and share clips.
It seems like a great way to boost post-race clubhouse banter and give us cool video clips of our starts to share online. Plus, it has built-in VMG and analytics for coaching.
It’s free to try, requires no hardware, and doesn’t add work for the race officer or require sailors to set up accounts.
Would the committee be open to testing it out for a race or two?
Details are here: getlittlebrother.com/clubs
Quick answers Sailor questions
What if I forget to press Start?
Nothing goes wrong. You still appear on the sign-on sheet and the results are unaffected. You just won’t be in that race’s replay.
What if I forget to press Stop?
The app reminds you. And because your club’s sailing area is geofenced, anything recorded outside it is dropped, so nothing is kept about where you go after racing.
Do I see anything during the race?
No. Your phone or watch is just the recorder. It shows nothing during the race, so it doesn’t aid you, and racing stays fair.
Is my phone waterproof enough?
Most modern ones are rated IP68, but that’s a lab test in fresh water, and salt water wears the seals over time. A £5–10 waterproof pouch on a lanyard, tucked into your buoyancy aid pocket, takes the worry away. Rinse your phone in fresh water after sailing.
Tap Start. Go racing. Watch it back.
No account. Nothing to buy. No fuss.