BetaGPS, motion sensors and video on one clock
Spada Sailing reads the telemetry inside GoPro, Insta360 and DJI files and the logs of a Vakaros, Velocitek or watch, puts every boat on GPS time, and works out the wind, the heel, every manoeuvre and the race from it.
Runs in Chrome or Edge, nothing to install. Your videos stay on your computer.
Beta. Spada Sailing is best experienced on a PC or tablet. It is in beta and many features are coming.
The starting point
Each camera records a session as several large files. Finding the start, or one particular tack, means scrubbing through all of them.
Speed and tracks live in another app or logger, on its own clock, so the video and the data are looked at separately.
Comparing two sailors means lining up their videos by hand, on a sound or on something both cameras happen to see.
Spada Sailing does the syncing, the measuring and the searching, so the debrief time goes to the sailing.
Under the hood
Video is read where it lies and never leaves the computer. Only the sensor series go to the server, for the wind, the heel and the sea state.
The GPS and motion data a GoPro, Insta360 or DJI camera records inside its video files, read without playing them, and the logs of trackers and watches. Split recordings join into one clip.
A 4 GB file in a second or two
A camera without GPS is lined up by how its gyroscope felt the boat turn against how the GPS course turned; a logger by its heel against the camera’s.
Lined up to within a second, no offsets to set
Heel and pitch from gravity and the gyroscope, on any mount fixed to the hull and with nothing to zero; the sea state from the heave between the waves.
Heel · pitch · sea state
Direction from the tacking angles of every boat on the water, speed from each class’s polar, fitted on fleets’ racing data; a weather model and tide beside it.
Direction · speed · how sure
Tacks and gybes, legs, VMG and metres gained along the wind; starts, lines, marks and finishes found from the fleet; a score per sailor against logged norms.
Tacks · legs · VMG · races · scores
Compare sailors
One column per sailor, each measured against a reference sailor you choose.
Debrief
Open a session and the debrief is ready: what each sailor did well, what cost them, and the video of each.
Camera sync
An Insta360, a DJI or a GoPro without GPS records on its own clock. Spada Sailing compares how its gyroscope felt the boat turn with how your GPS track turned, and finds how far apart the clocks are.
From then on the video has the track’s speed and position, and the track has the camera’s heel.
Wind, heel and tacks
From the cameras and trackers you already have: nothing extra to fit, and nothing to calibrate before going out.
Direction and strength worked out from how the boats sailed, drawn over the water as it shifted and gusted.
From the camera’s own motion sensors on any mount fixed to the hull, with nothing to zero.
The speed through each turn and the metres it cost, with a debrief and a score for each sailor.
Races
The starts are found in the tracks; one click sets up the line, the marks and the finish, each for you to check. Practice races with a line or a rabbit start, or a regatta from its trackers.
The gun from when the fleet took off, the line from where the boats were at it. Nudge the gun by seconds, drag the line’s ends, or let the rabbit’s tacks set the gate.
A mark wherever the fleet turned, gates as pairs, in rounding order. The legs are built from them, with every boat’s split, place and gap at each mark.
Early or late at the gun, distance from the line, speed and VMG off it, places through the race, finish times and a scorecard. Any leg opens in the analysis like any other part of the session.
GPS estimates for training, not official results.
How it works
A camera fixed to each boat: a GoPro with GPS on, or any camera with a Vakaros, Velocitek or watch on the same boat.
Drop the files or a whole SD card. Split recordings are joined into one clip, and even a 4 GB file opens in a second or two.
Every video is put on GPS time: a GoPro by its own GPS, other cameras by their motion against the track. No offsets to set.
Compare sailors, tacks and metrics, and click anything to watch it in the video.
Who it’s for
Go through your own session at home: where you lost on your training partner, which tacks cost most, and the video of each.
Debrief a group from the cameras on the boats. Compare sailors on the same leg, score practice starts, and show the exact clip.
The same measurements across camps and sailors, with no instruments to buy or keep up beyond the cameras.
Supported files
If a file isn’t supported, Spada Sailing says why when you add it.
| Camera or device | Video | GPS | Motion sensors |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoPro HERO5 Black to HERO11 Black, HERO13 Black | Yes | Built in, on GPS time | Yes |
| GoPro HERO12 Black, HERO11 Mini, HERO7 White, HERO (2024) | Yes | Add a GPS track: it lines up by itself | Yes |
| Insta360 X3, X4, X5 | 360°, look around | GPS remote, or add a track | Yes |
| DJI Osmo Action 4, 5 Pro, 6 | Yes | DJI GPS remote, or add a track | Yes |
| DJI Osmo 360 | 360°, look around | DJI GPS remote, or add a track | Yes |
| Phones, DJI Osmo Pocket, any .MP4, .MOV, .M4V, .WebM, .MKV | Yes | No: on the camera’s clock, lined up by hand | No |
| Vakaros, Velocitek, Sailmon MAX, watches (.vkx, .vtk, .fit, .tcx, .gpx, .csv, .log, .nmea) | No | Yes, matched to the boat’s video by itself | Heel and trim from a Vakaros or logger |
Not yet tried on a real boat’s file: DJI cameras with the GPS remote, the Osmo 360, and the Insta360 X3 and X5.
The videos stay on your computer and play from there. They are never uploaded.
Their GPS and motion data go to the Spada Sailing server, which works out the wind, heel and sea state.
Open Spada Sailing and drop in the videos and GPS tracks: a folder, an SD card or a few files. Spada Sailing is in beta, and more is on the way: tell us what you miss with the feedback button in the app.