Sailing is a fantastic pastime to enjoy, the placid, open expanses of the sea creating a relaxing atmosphere. However, this may not always be the case, and sailors should always be prepared for rough conditions. Also, given the expense that comes with owning and operating a boat, it is not a hobby that comes cheap, so it is vital for anyone with an interest in sailing to arm themselves with as much prior knowledge as possible when it comes to both their equipment and the waters in which they plan to travel.

Of course, there is a plethora of literature available to educate novice sailing enthusiasts, and most of what is contained in this literature can now be accessed on a smartphone or tablet via a range of informative apps. East Fremantle Yacht Club (http://www.efyc.com.au/), based in the Australian city of Perth, has created this infographic which suggests 10 useful apps for sailing, each one segmented into a more specific category, e.g. tides, navigation, beginner apps.

Some of the apps don’t come cheap but that may be a small price to pay if you find yourself in a testing situation at sea and don’t know off-hand how to react. The Memory-Map and MX Mariner navigation apps, for instance, are invaluable resources for providing up-to-date information on sea conditions for your intended route, while also helping you to plot routes and save them to your phone for future reference.

For inexperienced sailors, apps like Safe Skipper and SailSim are fantastic for providing an easily understandable page-grab of all the basics, and the latter also allows you to ‘test’ a route through a simulation so that you can pick up important lessons in a harm-free setting. Meanwhile, even those of you who are well accustomed to taking your yacht out to sea can benefit from reference apps like Boater’s Pocket Reference, which is effectively a sailor’s Bible with its vast array of information.

If you’re a sailing enthusiast with storage space to fill on your smartphone, let this infographic guide provide a helpful starting point for assembling a collection of apps that could prove to be priceless when you encounter an unforeseen situation at sea.