App Guide

Everything you need to know about Flying Start for iPhone and Apple Watch. Every feature, every setting, every mode.

1. Overview

Flying Start is a sailing race countdown timer with GPS start line intelligence. It runs on iPhone and Apple Watch, with real-time sync between the two.

The main screen is always the countdown timer. Swipe or tap MODE to cycle through the app's other screens:

2. Race Types

Choose your countdown sequence from Settings > Start Timer. The race type determines the countdown length and signal schedule.

Quick Start

No countdown — tap GUN and you're racing. Good for informal racing or when you've missed the sequence and just need to start the clock.

5-4-1-Go

The standard World Sailing 5-minute sequence. Warning signal at 5 minutes, preparatory at 4, one-minute signal, then the start. This is the default and by far the most common sequence in club and regatta racing.

3-2-1-Go

A shorter 3-minute sequence used by some clubs and youth racing. Same signal pattern compressed into 3 minutes. Useful when the race committee is running back-to-back starts and wants to keep things moving.

1-Go

A 1-minute countdown with just the one-minute signal and the start gun. Common in match racing or when the race committee calls a one-minute start for a restart.

Pursuit

Set a fixed start time (hours, minutes, seconds) and the app counts down to it. When you select Pursuit mode, the start time automatically sets to 10 minutes from now with the seconds zeroed — adjust as needed. Used for pursuit races where different classes start at staggered times based on handicap.

3. Starting a Race

The basic flow for every race:

On-screen buttons

4. Setting the Start Line

The start line is defined by two GPS marks — PIN (the pin end) and RC (the race committee boat end). Setting these enables all the GPS-based start line widgets.

Tap CLEAR to remove both marks and start over. You can update PIN or RC at any time by tapping them again — useful if marks drift.

Bow Offset

Found in Settings > Navigation. This adjusts the GPS position forward by 0–10 metres (in 0.5m steps) to account for the distance between your phone/watch and the bow of the boat. If your phone is at the helm and your bow is 3 metres forward, set the offset to 3m so the distance readings are accurate to the bow, not the cockpit.

5. Start Line Widgets

Widgets display real-time GPS data during the countdown, shown below the timer. Configure which widgets are visible and their order in Settings > Start Line.

You can display up to 4 widgets on standard iPhones, or up to 6 on taller screens (iPhone Plus/Max models). Reorder them using the arrow buttons in Settings to put your most important data at the top.

Which widgets should I use?

DTL + TTL is the essential combination. Distance tells you how far, time tells you whether you're going to make it. Together they give you the full picture of your approach.

ELI (Early/Late Indicator) is the most powerful widget for competitive starts. A single glance tells you whether to speed up or slow down. Combine it with ELD (Early/Late Delta) to see exactly how many seconds off you are.

COG + SOG are general navigation data — useful but not start-line-specific. Most racers leave these off during the start sequence and enable them during the race.

VMG shows your closing speed to the line, which is different from SOG when you're not heading directly at the line. Helpful for understanding your actual approach rate on a reach or beat.

6. Race Mode

Once the countdown reaches zero and the start gun fires, the app transitions from Start mode to Race mode. The timer switches from counting down to counting up (elapsed race time), and the on-screen buttons change.

In Race mode you can display COG and SOG widgets. Configure these in Settings > Race. Both are on by default.

Tap FINISH to end the race. The race is saved to your history with timing data, GPS track, and a start rating.

7. Race Mode Transition

This setting controls when the app switches from the Start screen (with countdown widgets) to the Race screen (with elapsed time). Found in Settings > Race Mode Transition.

8. Line Calculation Mode

This controls how DTL and TTL are calculated relative to the start line. Found in Settings > Line Calculation.

When to use each

Segment is correct for the vast majority of situations. It gives you accurate readings that match the physical start line between the marks.

Infinite can be useful in specific scenarios — for example, if you're approaching a very long start line from well outside the ends, or if you want TTL to remain visible even when approaching at a shallow angle that wouldn't intersect the finite segment.

9. Map & Landscape View

The map

The map shows your real-time position, GPS track, and the start line (if PIN and RC are set). Rotate your phone to landscape to see a full map view with instruments on the right side.

Lock map before start

Found in Settings > Map. Enabled by default.

In the final 60 seconds of the countdown, this setting locks the map orientation so the start line is horizontal across the screen and your boat approaches from below. This gives you a consistent, intuitive view of your approach regardless of your actual compass heading.

Without this setting, the map follows standard orientation and rotates freely. Some racers prefer this if they're used to a north-up chart display, but most find the locked approach view more intuitive in the heat of a start.

10. GPS Settings

Found in Settings > Navigation.

Disable All GPS Features

A master kill switch. Turning this on disables all GPS-dependent features: DTL, TTL, COG, SOG, ELI, ELD, VMG, and GPS track recording. The countdown timer still works perfectly — you just won't get any position-based data.

When to use: If you're using the app purely as a countdown timer (e.g. on the race committee boat, or on shore), or if you want to maximise battery life by not running the GPS.

Record GPS Track

Enabled by default. Records your GPS track during the race, which is saved with your race history. This powers the track visualization on the map and calculates your maximum speed (using a spike-filtered algorithm to ignore GPS glitches).

When to disable: If you want to save a small amount of battery, or if you simply don't care about post-race track data.

Bow Offset

Adjustable from 0 to 10 metres in 0.5m steps. Shifts your GPS position forward to account for the physical distance between where the phone is (usually at the helm) and the bow of the boat. All distance calculations (DTL, OCS detection) use this corrected position.

11. Display Modes

Found in Settings > Display. These control the colour scheme of the countdown screen.

Night Mode

A dark, red-tinted colour scheme designed for low-light conditions. Red light preserves your night vision, which matters for twilight or early morning races. Useful during evening series or when you're racing at dusk.

Sunlight Mode PRO

A high-contrast, bright colour scheme designed for direct sunlight. Makes the countdown and widget numbers much easier to read when the sun is beating down on your screen. If you've ever struggled to read your phone on the water on a bright day, this is the fix.

12. Units

Found in Settings > Units.

These affect all speed and distance displays throughout the app — SOG, VMG, DTL, and anywhere else a measurement is shown.

13. Race History & Start Rating

Tap MODE to cycle to the History screen. This shows a chronological list of all your completed races, grouped by date.

Season statistics

At the top of the History screen you'll see your season stats:

• Number of starts — total races completed
• Average start score — your mean start rating across all races
• Best score — your highest start rating this season
• Average time after gun — how long after the start signal you typically cross the line

Start Rating

Every race receives a start rating out of 100 with a letter grade (A+, A, B, etc.). The rating is calculated from:

• Time after gun — how long after the start signal you crossed the line (closer to zero is better)
• Distance at gun — how far from the line you were when the gun fired (closer is better)
• Speed at crossing — your speed when you crossed the line (faster is better)
• OCS — whether you were over the line early (automatic penalty)

Each race also generates a shareable start card — a branded image with your rating, grade, and key metrics. Share it to social media or messages directly from the app. You can also upload it to flyingstart.app to generate a shareable web link.

14. Crew Sync

Crew Sync lets multiple devices share the same race state in real-time over local networking (Bluetooth/Wi-Fi). One person hosts, everyone else joins as crew.

How it works

Crew audio cues

Crew devices receive countdown beeps in the final 10 seconds before the start — three high-pitched beeps followed by low beeps, plus the start signal. This means crew members don't need to see a screen to know the start is coming.

Connection status

A banner at the top shows how many crew are connected. The host sees the count, and gets a haptic when someone connects or disconnects.

15. Crew Board

The Crew Board is an in-app feature request and feedback system. Cycle to it via MODE.

• Roadmap — see what's been delivered, what's being built, and what's planned
• Top Ideas — community suggestions sorted by votes
• Submit — propose a new feature or improvement (title + description)
• Vote — upvote existing suggestions to help prioritise

Data syncs via iCloud so your votes and submissions persist across devices.

16. Apple Watch

The Flying Start Apple Watch app works as either a companion to your iPhone or standalone.

Tethered mode (iPhone nearby)

When your iPhone is reachable, the Watch mirrors the iPhone's race state. The iPhone runs all the logic — GPS, countdown, signals — and streams the display to the Watch at 4Hz. Tap the Watch screen to fire the gun or other controls, and the button press is sent back to the iPhone.

Best for: When your phone is mounted at the helm and you want a secondary display on your wrist. The Watch shows the same countdown and widgets without consuming its own GPS.

Standalone mode (no iPhone)

When the iPhone isn't reachable, the Watch runs its own race timer and GPS independently. It has the same countdown functionality and can set its own start line.

Best for: Dinghy racing where you don't want to take your phone on the water, or if you prefer to race with just the Watch.

Digital Crown

Rotate the Digital Crown to cycle through your enabled start line widgets. Each turn gives haptic feedback as you switch between DTL, TTL, SOG, COG, and any other enabled widget.

Watch settings

The Watch has its own settings screen (accessible from the Watch app), with a subset of the iPhone settings:

Always-On Display

On Apple Watch models with Always-On Display, the screen dims but continues showing the countdown or race clock. Widgets and buttons are hidden in the dimmed state to save power — only the timer is visible.

Watch complications

Add a Flying Start complication to your watch face for quick launch and at-a-glance race time.

iCloud sync

All settings sync between iPhone and Watch via iCloud Key-Value Store. Change a setting on one device and it updates on the other automatically.

17. Live Activity & Dynamic Island

On iPhone 14 Pro and later, Flying Start shows a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island during a race. This displays the countdown or elapsed race time without needing to keep the app in the foreground.

The Live Activity starts automatically when a race begins and dismisses itself 5 minutes after the race finishes.

18. Signal Reference

Found in Settings > Signal Reference. This is a quick-reference guide to the World Sailing start sequence signals. Useful if you're new to racing or need a refresher.

The app plays these signals automatically at the correct times during the countdown. You'll also feel haptic feedback on both iPhone and Apple Watch for each signal.

19. Free vs. Pro

Flying Start is free to download and use. The free version includes everything you need for racing — the countdown timer, 5-4-1-Go and Quick Start race types, COG, SOG, Crew Sync, race history, and the Apple Watch app.

Pro unlocks additional features for serious racers who want the full GPS start line toolkit:

Manage your subscription in Settings > Subscription. If you've purchased Pro and need to restore it on a new device, tap Restore Purchases.