Skipper Connect: a project by skippers, for organising sailing trips

Over the years I've learned a lot about how to organise a sailing trip, and all of it has gone into this app. I built Skipper Connect with a group of experienced skippers.

The questions every new crew asks

As a skipper I'm often out with crew members who have never set foot on a boat before. And so the questions pile up: How much water do we need for eight people? Do I really need proper shoes? How much space will I have on board? How does the gas cooker even work? And which side was port again?

Answering those questions is part of a skipper's job, of course. But I always wondered whether there was a better way than scattering the information across out-of-date PDFs and overloaded WhatsApp groups.

Too many apps for a single trip

Then came a second observation. For a single trip I'd end up running a whole string of apps, and the crew were doing exactly the same. On top of that there was a spreadsheet for the shopping, an app for the expenses, PDF lists for packing, and another one for general information.

Out of that came the idea of pulling everything into one app, so that skipper and crew can organise their trip together and there's more time on board to actually enjoy the sailing.

The vision

We want to make organising a sailing trip simpler, and to strengthen the connection between skipper and crew. That's why everything that matters sits in one app. It starts before you leave, with shopping suggestions and planning the route together. On board, the crew get to know each other over a few small games, have the right recipes to hand, and stay up to date on the weather and on what's happening next. The skipper's job gets lighter too, with a thorough check-in list and a safety briefing already prepared. And at the end, everyone gets a mileage record to remember the trip by.