2.0.957 is the latest open 'Development' version. Before using this make sure you back up your data folder.

NOTE: this version has wind shadowing so you can use this tactically in races to slow other boats !(multiplayer)

You can also now add your own races to share with friends using an Access Code.

Windows: C:\Users\Your name\AppData\LocalLow\VRActive\eSail
NOTE: The AppData folder may be hidden in Windows. To unhide check the 'Hidden items' box under View in Windows Explorer.

MacOS: Library/Application Support/VR Active/eSail
OR Library/Application Support/unity.VRActive.eSail

This version has multiplayer challenges. At the moment you can also create your own courses. However you will not be able to make challenges out of these courses (yet). We will just see how things go before starting to make that available.

It is possible that challenges and leaderboard data might be removed, but we will try to avoid this now.

We have also added an asymmetric sail. See the new tutorial under Quick Start/Advanced.

To swap to the Development version:

1. Right click on eSail in your Steam client.

2. On the drop down menu click 'Properties'

3. Click on the BETAS tab.

4. Select the Development beta from the drop down list.

Please provide your feedback in the Development Forum.

NOTES:

• Languages are still a work in progress. There may be gaps in any language apart from English which should be complete.
  
• All multiplayer challenges should be in UTC. Please do not use UTC+12 when running multiplayer challenges. This will come later.
  
• You will need to register by editing your main user inside eSail. NOTE: your additional users can also be registered at the moment (using different email addresses) but these users may be removed later.

This minor update fixes these problems:

1. NPC boat engines fixed missing sound
2. Changed position of bow spray on large ship
3. Fixed issue where description of steering controls was reversed
4. Changed 'Controller enabled' to off in Settings as this seems to be the major cause of any steering issues.

This small update fixes these issues:

1) Steering. Some users have experienced steering problems, normally when returning to eSail after a break. We have addressed at least one cause of this, but it is very hard to test as the issue is so infrequent. Please let us know if you experience this problem.

2) We have improved the restored state of the reefed sails. This includes problems with the sail material and also telltales which were left hanging in the air.

3) Fixed a bug where Man Overboard would leave a long elastic line joining the MOB to the boat.

4) Fixed terrain textures in the Northern Islands. The terrain had far too much contrast and is more balanced now.

5) We have added a link to the description of the 'Nature Research Station'. This link points to some satellite imagery which may make it (slightly!) easier to navigate in and out of the marshes.

The eSail German version is here at last! After several months of work by 7 translators and reviewers eSail is now much more accessible to German speakers. As well as translating the main tutorials, challenges and the interface we have also used Google speech synthesis, so you don't need to read as you are sailing - our virtual narrator will talk to you.

Thank you to all the fantastic contributors who took part in this project.

eSail is a great way of improving your sailing skills. It has numerous tutorials, sailing, mooring and anchoring modes, sailing challenges, races, Live Sailing mode, ‘Learn yachting with eSail’ training course and more.

Use eSail to practise your skills before skippering or crewing a real world boat. Or keep your sailing in the virtual world – it’s up to you!

German Flag Vectors by Vecteezy

In this new beta eSail now has German language support provided by our amazing community translators.

Please have a look and let us know what you think. In particular have a listen to the speech in the first tutorial 'Einstieg'. We have tried a female and a male voice from Google 'Text To Speech'. Let us know which you prefer!

Thank you to all the community translators, testers and reviewers for your contributions.

German Flag Vectors by Vecteezy

eSail v1.7 now has French and Russian language support provided by the eSail community. Adding localisation has been a big task and at the same time we have upgraded the underlying Unity engine which will bring future benefits. There are also a number of other minor improvements and changes:

• New binoculars to help with navigation
  
• Mainsail boom now moves more realistically when mainsheet is slack
  
• Improved the look of sail cloth so it responds better to lighting
  
• Weather forecasts now also have text in a new comms panel, helping when wind and wave sounds might make it difficult to hear
  
• Telltales are brighter
  
• Marine life scaled down

Thank you to the amazing community translators who have made this release possible.

Flag Vectors by Vecteezy.

eSail has today launched a new ‘Man Overboard’ (MOB) add-on for eSail Sailing Simulator. The add-on – or downloadable content (DLC) – has been developed with the help of marine safety expert Keith Colwell, author of the RYA Sea Survival Handbook. It includes tutorials, challenges and random triggering of MOB during normal sailing. The drill includes heaving-to, deploying equipment and recovery of the MOB under power and sail.

‘Man Overboard’ features 2 tutorials, 2 challenges and a random MOB mode while ‘Live Sailing’ so you can test your readiness when the unexpected happens.

Man Overboard was created in close collaboration with Keith Colwell. Keith has worked for many years as a reporter and editor for sailing journals. He has also worked for the RNLI for 15 years and during that time trained and managed RNLI Sea Safety and Community Safety volunteers to give advice to yachtsmen, boat users and the general public on how to stay safe when on or by the water. He became a RYA sea survival, powerboat and marine vhf radio instructor/assessor in 2004, while working for the RNLI, and currently works as a freelance instructor.

This new beta brings a number of small enhancements and bug fixes:

Enhancements

• Added new 'Heaving-to' tutorial
  
• Leeway added to drift boat sideways with and without sails
  
• Added 'Input Focus' keyboard control to move between panels (default =), so you can press this key to move between mooring and anchoring panels for instance. The panel with focus will receive the Options Keys (1,2,3,4). So the special anchoring keys are no longer needed (although still work at the moment)
  
• Added 'Pause' keyboard control
  
• Made lighthouse lights able to cut through mist and light fog so they can now be seen from over 10 miles in reasonable conditions
  
• Added a 'splash' to the camera as you go underwater

Bug fixes

• Fixed: Anchor not colliding with concrete jettys
  
• Fixed: Anchoring Challenge (Mosquito Bay) erroneous 100 point penalty at start
  
• Fixed: Chart cursor coordinates were displaying with check box off
  
• Fixed: Issue of pins being added to alerts when there is no point pinning them

All feedback is welcome. Please add any comments to the eSail Beta forum!

eSail Update 1.5.39 has 2 new features and fixes a few small issues.

1) There is now a hand compass. See the yellow button near the main compass on the dashboard.

2) You can now pin alerts. These are the little pop up windows. We will be using these more as things get more advanced, so this will make it easier to refer back to the pop up information. At the moment the pins only last during a tutorial or challenge.

3) Fixes a missing 'close up' window on the course plotter in the charting module, making it hard to see the numbers on the protractor.

4) Stops points being deducted on challenges when fenders hit the jetty.

5) Further work has been done to avoid screen dragging while dragging on the throttle.

Thank you to all eSailors and beta testers for your feedback!

This version has been released to fix or improve anchoring issues in eSail.

These issues should now have been fixed:

1) The anchor was tending to slide along the sea bed (except when the chain was hidden).

2) When the chain was hidden it tended to break on retraction. This should be improved but that doesn't mean its impossible to break the simulation!

3) Live Sailing saving of anchor / chain sometimes caused the anchor/chain to vanish.

4) If you motored with the anchor compartment open, the anchor could fly off. Now the top chain links and anchor are locked when not being extended/retracted. (We have also added some notes to the anchoring tutorial about being careful about speed and steering to avoid breaking the simulation - as in real life you would want to avoid breaking the windless!)

5) Weird anchor behaviour - floating/ not digging in etc.

6) Anchor sliding down hill - see above. It should now lock to a slope when not being pulled or when chain is extending. It will still slide when being pulled.

7) When swapping between users (from inside eSail) sometimes Live Sailing got confused and saved the wrong location.

8) Some physics changes have been to improve chain stability.

Thank you for all our testers and beta testers for your feedback.