Free Boat Simulator
Sail now in your browser — no account, no install, on your phone too.
A 15 m motor yacht and a 50 ft cruising yacht in today's real wind and weather, on the Gulf of Riga with its 107 real harbours and any Baltic harbour as a start. Radar with AIS targets, a chart with depths, real-looking traffic that follows the rules of the road, a 3-D bridge, chase and top view. Press the button and you are on the water.
Free for anybody. Log in with a free account and SHARED SEA puts you on one live sea with other real skippers.
What is free — and what the subscription adds
Free, for anybody
- The 15 m motor yacht and the 50 ft cruiser (LATEKO): engine, thrusters, sails one by one, sheets, reefs
- The Gulf of Riga in full detail, any Baltic harbour as a start; TIME ×1 or ×10
- Today's wind from the MET Norway forecast, the weather, fog, day and night, the sea state
- Radar with AIS, the chart with depths, the 3-D bridge / chase / top views, binoculars
- Traffic that keeps the rules of the road; docking in a real harbour; the man-overboard drill, the pre-charter checks
- SHARED SEA with a free login: other real skippers on the same sea
With the simulator subscription
- All 22 vessels — dinghies, the catamaran, the AC75, the explorer yacht, the tanker and the cruise ship, the pilot boat, tugs, the offshore and survey vessels
- The docking, sailing and chart plotter units with their lessons and checks
- Pilot transfers, towage, offshore DP, hydrographic survey
- The scenario builder and the Classroom for schools and clubs
- THE BALTIC LAP — the online regatta round the Baltic
Four things to do first
1. Sail to the next harbour — and berth there
Berthing starts in your head: you need a plan and a picture of it. Real physics helps you build that plan, test it and gain the confidence — you can see your ideas through without the risk of damaging the boat.
Pick a harbour in AREA (every one of the Gulf of Riga's 107 is real: the pontoons, the quays, the berths), sail there in today's wind, then press ⚓ DOCK and practise coming alongside — bow-to, stern-to, the springs, the thrusters, the wind pushing you off the quay. The plan view shows the forces; a hard touch is called a hard touch. Before your charter, do it in the harbour you will actually arrive at.
2. Man overboard — know the manoeuvre before it happens
The MOB drill is in Free Mode for everyone: ▶ DEMO shows the manoeuvre done once, then it is your turn — the figure-eight or quick-stop under sail, the direct return under power, the Williamson turn for a ship — judged step by step: when you turned, how you came back, whether you stopped to windward of the person. The point is not the score. It is that on the day, with somebody in the water, your hands already know what to do.
3. Plan a route and let the autopilot sail it
Open the CHART, press ROUTE and click your waypoints in — round a headland, into the next harbour's approach — then NAV/TRACK: the autopilot sails waypoint to waypoint, the bar shows WP1 ✓ · ▶ WP2 with range, bearing, cross-track error and VMG, and ◀ WP / WP ▶ let you skip or go back. AUTO holds any course you set. That is passage planning as on a real plotter, learnt by doing; holding a wind angle under sail and the full chart plotter unit come with the subscription.
4. Race a friend — or the whole class — in the real wind
Log in (a free account), name your boat and you are on SHARED SEA: one live sea, the same real wind for everyone, other skippers' boats on your radar. Agree a mark with a friend and race for it — a sparring race for two, with the wind that is really blowing outside. A sailing school or club puts a whole class on one sea with the Classroom; students join free. And THE BALTIC LAP, the online regatta round the Baltic, is open all the time.
How it works
- 1. Press SAIL NOW. The simulator opens full-screen on the motor yacht off Riga. Drag to look round, the wheel and the lever are on the screen, a game controller works too.
- 2. Pick a start. AREA lists every harbour; the chart shows where you are. ⚓ DOCK enters docking mode in the harbour.
- 3. Learn by doing. ⓘ How do I do this? explains every control; the traffic, the wind and the sea are the same for everyone. ✕ EXIT brings you back here.
The certificate you will need on charter
The simulator is practice. The paper most charter companies ask for is the VHF Short Range Certificate — our online VHF course (€199) gives the exam, the radio simulator and the certificate.
Questions
Is it really free? Do I need an account?
Yes and no: Free Mode on the 15 m motor yacht and the 50 ft cruiser LATEKO is free for anybody — no account, nothing to install. Log in (a free account) and SHARED SEA puts you on one live sea with other real skippers. The other vessels, the docking, sailing and ECDIS units and the classroom come with the simulator subscription.
Does it run on a phone or a Mac?
It is a browser page: any computer, tablet or phone with a current browser (WebGL for the 3-D view). On a phone there is no sound.
Is the wind real?
Yes — today's wind from the MET Norway forecast for where you are, with the real weather, fog and daylight; the sea builds with the wind. TIME runs at ×1 or ×10.
What can I practise?
Handling under power and sail, the rules of the road among real-looking traffic, radar and AIS, the chart with depths, docking in a real harbour, a man-overboard drill, the pre-charter checks — all on the two free boats.
Can I practise docking in a real harbour for free?
Yes. Sail to any of the Gulf of Riga's 107 harbours on the motor yacht or the 50 ft cruiser LATEKO, press ⚓ DOCK and berth there with the plan view, fenders, lines and springs. The Harbour Ready lessons with their scoring come with the subscription.
Is there an autopilot? Can I plan a route?
Yes. AUTO holds a course you set; on the chart, ROUTE lets you click waypoints in and NAV/TRACK makes the autopilot follow them waypoint by waypoint, with the range, bearing, cross-track error and VMG to the active waypoint shown in the bar. Holding a wind angle under sail (WIND mode) and the full chart plotter unit with the route check come with the subscription.
Can I race a friend?
Yes — log in with a free account, both of you name your boats on SHARED SEA, agree a mark and go: the same real wind, the same sea, each other on the radar. A class does the same with the Classroom (students free). THE BALTIC LAP is the organised regatta.
Do I get a certificate?
The simulator gives practice. The certificate comes from the VHF course (€199) — the Short Range Certificate most charter companies ask for.
Boat types are described generically; SkipperCheck is not affiliated with any boat builder or class association.