Great sailing simulation + racing

This app caught me a little off guard... From the screenshots I was expecting a good looking but "arcadey" sail racing game. Instead I found a pretty good simulator that has decent controls and a believable physics model. Sometimes its hard to tack without losing momentum, and a bad gybe get result in a capsize.

Wind is shown in a thumbnail view, or optionally in visible 3d wisps through the air. To sail well you have to worry about sail angle, wind angle, drift and momentum. Relative wind also seems to factored in. Animation and graphics are smooth on the new iPad.

Theres a number of different race layouts, you sail on corrected time with up to six other computer opponents and real life strategies work in the game. Sometimes the "variable winds" are a bit unrealistic in the wildness of the shifts, but you can change the setting for that.

You can sail freely without racing too, just dont go through the start gate at the beginning.

In addition to being a fun game, the best compliment I can give Little Sailor is that it can easily be used to teach the real principles of sailing, I used it to show my daughters some ideas about falling off a bit to increase boat speed and improve VMG instead of pointing as high as possible.

A recording mechanism lets you save and playback races from any angle so you can analyze and coach as well.

If theres any downside its that it is so good you want more: different types of boats and local or Internet multiplayer would be great. Dont let that you from getting it now though because whats there is very polished.

quadcap about Top Sailor