How The Project Started
This system grew out of real sailing frustration, a lot of engineering hours, and one clear goal: build an autopilot suite that behaves more like a good sailor at the helm.
My brother and I are both passionate sailors. For years, we kept coming back to the same frustration: many commercial autopilots simply do not steer the way an experienced helmsman naturally would in real sea conditions.
After many discussions, we started listing what would actually help on long offshore passages. That list kept growing until it eventually became the foundation for the full system.
After I moved permanently to another country and had to sell my boat, I suddenly had more time to focus on development. As a pensioner, I also value having meaningful engineering work that keeps the mind active.
I have worked with electronics and programming for around 50 years and have built many projects with Arduino and Teensy. From that experience, I felt it was realistic to build a complete modular suite for offshore sailing.
To make development practical before full sea time, I built two simulator modules: a weather simulator and a boat simulator.
The boat simulator was by far the hardest part. With AI assistance, I worked through the math needed to estimate vessel behavior from the available design inputs.
For the Hallberg-Rassy models, I used publicly available data and engineering estimates for mast and rig position, sail geometry, hull form, rudder and keel characteristics, and expected hydrodynamic response.
After about three months, the first-generation simulator was running. In this context, simulation means predicting how a given boat is likely to behave in specific wind, sea-state and weather conditions. That output, including leeway, roll, pitch and related motion cues, is then fed into the AI autopilot logic for controller development and validation.
Before final enclosure work, several modules were developed as separate table-top units so I could validate LCD workflows, data flow and cross-module behavior in parallel. That made it easier to test real operator screens, timing and integration issues early, before the hardware packaging was finalized.
Current page focus: The personal origin story, simulator strategy, and sea-trial collaboration model.
The suite is much broader than a traditional autopilot. It is a complete singlehanded offshore assistance stack covering steering, weather intelligence, safety sensing, logging and post-passage analysis.
Quick jump: SailingKSF WX | Safety + AI | Logs + Polar | iPad App | Voice Alarm | Sensors
This project is still work in progress, and I would genuinely like feedback on what is missing, what feels unclear, and what would be most useful offshore. The first sea trial is planned for spring 2026, and every comment is reviewed by me before it appears publicly.
These public pages focus on what the suite actually delivers offshore: steadier steering, fail-safe automation, and practical AI support that reduces workload without taking control away from the skipper.
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