We analyzed 97 negative reviews from the top 5 Sailing apps on the App Store. Here's what users hate most.
Ranked by frequency — how often each complaint appears in negative reviews.
35% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"The app crashes quite often, I can't finish or even start a race , but they still debit my token account. Not cool"
"Constantly crashes and costs me money. Customer support is always very slow to respond and hard to find."
30% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"The game has a terrible understanding of Racing Rules of Sailing. Downwind specifically. It allows players to just jibe into you"
"Racing rules aren't followed at all. A boat can come from behind and foul you, then finish ahead of you."
25% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"Y'all are thieves I purchased some coins to get vmg and the game has crashed about 20 times making me lose the coin without racing"
"You spend tokens to get sailing info (best vmg, wind shadow, etc) and then it crashes and you lose your tokens. Not worth it anymore."
20% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"It's not sailing. While they did get a lot right there are so many things wrong with it. Like the steering is garbage."
"It wouldn't be a bad app if the steering lag even with the alternate controls worked in a predictable manner."
22% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"I've had multiple instances of simple port/starboard where I'm on starboard and get hit by a port tacked/jibed boat and I get the penalty????"
"Wish I could give this game a better rating, but I just can't. It is a fun game to play and really is interesting, but the penalty system absolutely ruins it."
18% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"And the whole vip thing is stupid too... just give us all the ability to see lifts and knocks just like in normal sailing......"
"you can buy so many helps that the AI is mostly sailing"
Design and usability issues driving negative reviews.
Any phone call, notification, or accidental swipe gesture causes immediate race crash and loss of entry tokens, with no recovery or refund
"I was enjoying this game, but keep in mind that if you use powerups and get a phone call, your race is abandoned and so are the powerups you purchased. You do not get the green coins back to buy more."
Players lose paid entry tokens when app crashes, lobbies don't fill, or connection issues occur, with no refund system in place
"You pay for credits, but the way the app is currently set up, if you are unable to race because nobody shows up, VR will not refund the credits you paid to enter the race. They have now set up a nice extortion plan to steal your money."
New players struggle to understand spatial orientation, course navigation, and basic controls before being forced into paid competitive races
"I spent an hour or so with this app and completed the very basic drills . I wanted to try and sail around a practice course but was not able to figure out how to do this."
Control inputs result in inconsistent heading changes, making fine adjustments impossible and creating guessing games for experienced sailors
"I can't tell if I'm going to go up or down 0 or 15 when I press the buttons. I thought I'd get used to the controls, but it's just not happening."
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