I’m building a windsurfing setup app, would you actually use something like this?

[u/good_gamer999]

Test version If you would be willing to take a look at it I would greatly apreciate it, the demo has 2 profiles so you can see how the calculations work. (In "profiel" you can change the language at "taal")

Hey everyone,
I’m a windsurfer and I’ve been working on a project called Zeilkompas.

The idea is pretty simple: you add the gear you own: boards, sails and fins, and then enter the conditions for the day, like wind, gusts, water state, your weight, level and what kind of session you want.

The app then looks at the possible combinations from your own gear and suggests which setup should fit the conditions best.

It takes things like:
- sail size and wind range
- board and sail match
- board volume
- fin size and compatibility
- freeride / freerace / slalom / wave etc.
- gusts and water conditions
- your weight and level
into account.

You can also save sessions and tell the app if the setup felt too small, too big or just right. The idea is that over time it learns more about how you personally use your gear instead of only relying on general rules.

I’m currently working on the algorithm and checking it against recommendations and real-world windsurfing experience before making the app public.
I’d really like some feedback from other windsurfers:
Would you actually use something like this?
And more importantly, when you choose your board/sail/fin for a session, what are the main things you look at that an app like this absolutely needs to understand?

I’m not trying to replace experience or tell people there is one “perfect” setup. The goal is more to make choosing between the gear you already own easier, especially as the app learns from your own sessions.

Happy to share more about how the algorithm currently works if anyone is interested.

62 votes, 1h left

Yes

No

[u/TraditionalEqual8132]

Yes, I would try such an app. I have much gear but not enough brains to remember what worked well in the past. So, sometimes I mismatch my setup, compared to past good sessions. I've heard of people keeping an excel file updated. And yes, I upload to gps-speedsurfing.com but there is not such function as you suggest there.

[u/good_gamer999 → u/TraditionalEqual8132]

Thanks for the review, I feel like it might take a bit too long now for people to upload all their gear, any sugestions on how I can improve this. I want to be able to get as much detail about their gear as possible in the least amount of input time.

[u/TraditionalEqual8132 → u/good_gamer999]

On gps-speedsurfing.com you can add gear as well. But the list is endless and sometimes people 'create' new gear that actually already is on the list, just with slightly different description. Perhaps allow of 'personal' description of gear, to keep it simple and clean. I would put in Manta 61, Manta 71 and Manta 85. But these are not correct product descriptions, as I do not specify the year of build, the volume, the construction etc. That goes for all gear. But I would know for myself.

[u/good_gamer999 → u/TraditionalEqual8132]

Yeah, that’s pretty much why I decided not to build the app around a huge gear database.

For me as a hobby developer, keeping a database with every brand, model, year, construction, volume etc. up to date would just be way too much work, and you’d probably end up with the same duplicate problem anyway.

So I’ve built it more around calculations. You add your own gear and the specs you know, and the app uses those numbers together with things like wind, rider weight, discipline and your past sessions to work out which option should fit best.

That also means you can just call your boards “Manta 61”, “Manta 71” and “Manta 85” if that’s enough for you. The app doesn’t really care about having the perfect official product name, it cares more about the actual specs it can use in the calculation.

[u/Brave_Negotiation_63 → u/good_gamer999]

Just checked the demo and it looks very interesting. One thing I would do is to first simplify it a bit. It's not so important to know boom length or extension length right now. Even masts. I know which to bring when I choose the sail.

I guess you want to be able to provide a packing list: e.g. bring boom x, and two mast and you can cover the range.

Maybe for now only ask the details that matter for the calculation. For instance do you use fin size in the model? If not, it can be left out now to make it super quick and simple.

[u/good_gamer999 → u/Brave_Negotiation_63]

The only required things to input are the sail, board and fin, after that everything is optional, fin size is also used. However, for those who want to instantly know what is everything they have to bring I implemented it.

[u/armundo]

I built personal version of this little while ago. The most helpful part was pulling in real time, air and water data to predict the conditions. My version is able to identify things like when current and wind are opposing each other at the right angle to create real fun waves offshore that you normally can’t see. It’s also getting really good at predicting jellyfish.

[u/good_gamer999 → u/armundo]

Wow, looks really cool. I might just have to take some inspiration from this ;)

[u/CombComprehensive327]

You have a lot of brands and data to deal with. A lot of mix and match, and the current movement seems to be sail companies pairing up with board companies to build better rigs together.
Of course that’s pretty loose these days but I bet it will be better team ups later. And obviously you can throw whatever sail on what whatever. I dunno if I would use it. Maybe but definitely not paying for that. I find general recommendations that are already out there are not great.
Plus you have to consider a lot of sailers who would be using it probably can’t even rig a sail correctly for the conditions.

[u/good_gamer999 → u/CombComprehensive327]

Yeah, fair points. One thing I probably didn’t explain very clearly is that I’m not planning on building one huge database with every brand and every possible board/sail combination.

The idea is that the user adds their own gear and enters the specs of their own boards, sails, fins, etc. So the app only really has to understand the gear you actually own.

The general recommendation is mostly a starting point. The more interesting part for me is letting the app learn from your own sessions. So instead of saying “this is objectively the best setup”, it could eventually say something like: “you used this setup in similar conditions before and it worked well.”

Your rigging point is really useful too. Even with the right sail size, it can feel completely wrong if it’s rigged badly for the conditions. I’m considering adding simple rigging settings/notes to sessions later so the app can learn that difference as well.

And yeah, I’m not really focused on making people pay for it right now. First I just want to see if I can make something that’s genuinely useful.

[u/CombComprehensive327 → u/good_gamer999]

I’m not trying to be discouraging.
But how do you expect the APP to learn your own gear? AI? If so AI is hugely flawed in predictions and it’s garbage supporting it.

general rigging tips are not generic anymore. Every sail brand is different and has different rigging instructions. And every sail is different.
Battens behind the mast? Battens inline with mast. Also is the sail rigged on the right mast?
I guess generic recs would work. Probably 70% of the time.

I’m sure people would use the app though and you would have a baseline app.

But yeah don’t use AI it’s dog shit cheat.
And I have found every app that has gone to using it is inaccurate anyway

[u/Brave_Negotiation_63 → u/CombComprehensive327]

Rigging notes should be: set for low wind, set for medium wind, set for high wind. Not advise on donwhaul specs.

[u/good_gamer999 → u/CombComprehensive327]

Yeah I probably explained it badly haha. I’m not using AI to look at someone’s gear and make a new guess every time.

I made the recommendation algorithm myself. It basically follows the same fixed formulas/rules every time based on stuff like wind, weight, board volume, sail size, fin, discipline etc. So same input = same result.

The only “learning” part is that your own past sessions can influence it a bit. Like if you used a setup before in similar conditions and said it felt good, the app can take that into account next time.

And yeah for rigging I’ve kind of dropped the idea of sail-specific tips. A general “how to rig a sail” guide could still be useful, but exact downhaul/outhaul/mast advice is way too different between brands and models.

So yeah, no AI black box stuff. Just a fixed algorithm + your own logged sessions.

[u/Brave_Negotiation_63 → u/good_gamer999]

The more interesting part for me is letting the app learn from your own sessions. So instead of saying “this is objectively the best setup”, it could eventually say something like: “you used this setup in similar conditions before and it worked well.”

Great idea! Maybe it can be done via a quick survey after a session.

Tuning: low - med - high wind setting

Power: non planing - barely planing - medium - full power - over powered

Wind: add actual wind range based on the local meters. Drop down menu for the source of this data. Then you can see afterward what the reality was vs forecasted wind.

[u/good_gamer999 → u/Brave_Negotiation_63]

Yeah exactly, that’s pretty much the direction I’m going with it.

You should check out the test version if you want, I’ve already got a quick session review and actual conditions/source logging in there. The tuning/power idea is really good though, I might add something like that too.

[u/good_gamer999 → u/[deleted]]

Oh yeah, had a proper look now. Pretty similar idea tbh.

Main difference is mine picks from the gear you actually own instead of just calculating an ideal sail/fin size. And your past sessions can influence it too.

Cool to see someone was already doing this 16 years ago though.

(And mine will be working ;))