Development & testing

Built with purpose. Refined on the water.

Behind SailGauge is an ongoing process of engineering, testing, and learning — all focused on making sail feedback more useful for everyday sailors.

The system

Engineered for the real world.

SailGauge combines purpose-built load sensors, marine electronics, and intelligent software to turn sail forces into information sailors can use.

Every part of the system has been developed with the demands of sailing in mind.

SailGauge sensor installed on a mainsail traveler car with the mainsheet block attached — SG1000 sensor installed on a mainsail traveler.

Behind the product

Designed from the ground up.

From mechanical components and electronics to software and installation details, SailGauge has been developed as an integrated sailing system. That hands-on approach allows each part to be refined as the system evolves.

Through an iterative development process, finite element analysis (FEA), and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) techniques, the design has evolved from a simple sensor through three versions into a complete, engineered system protected by awarded and pending patents.

SailGauge SG1000 system: three stainless steel SailGauge sensors in front of the Master Module — The SG1000 core system: three sensors and the Master Module.

Simulation and statistics, not guesswork

Structural simulation and statistical analysis guide the design, from the strength of the sensor body to how SailGauge interprets measured forces across wind angles and wind speeds.

Finite element analysis stress plot of a SailGauge sensor body under load — **Finite element analysis.** Stress analysis of the sensor body under load.

3D surface plot from a design-of-experiments analysis of sail lift against wind angle and wind speed — **Design of experiments.** Statistical model of sail lift versus wind angle and wind speed.

Testing and evaluation

Tested beyond the dock.

Every SailGauge component is bench and lab tested, then evaluated under real sailing conditions.

Durability

Tested to 20 years of hard use.

The SailGauge sensor was qualified through accelerated life testing: repeated load cycles that compress years of sailing into a much shorter test on the bench. The results were analyzed with Lipson and Bayesian statistical methods, the approach used to qualify durability in demanding industries, to demonstrate a service life equivalent to 20 years of use by a 95th-percentile sailor — someone who sails harder and more often than 95 out of 100 owners.

Test load: 150% of maximum load
Load cycles: 20,000
Result: 20-year service life at 98% reliability and 80% confidence

SailGauge sensor in a bench load-test rig, loaded by two air springs through a load cell — **Accelerated life testing.** Sensors were load-cycled in accelerated life tests, analyzed with Lipson and Bayesian statistical methods, to demonstrate 20 years of 95th-percentile use: 20,000 cycles at 150% of maximum load, 98% reliability at 80% confidence.

SailGauge sensor on an aluminum plate inside a laboratory incubator, with its cable and a temperature probe attached — **Temperature testing.** Sensors were tested from −20 °C to +70 °C (−4 °F to 158 °F) to understand and improve measurement consistency as conditions change.

SailGauge sensor installed on a genoa car with the sheet block attached, on the water — **On-water evaluation.** Time on the water connects engineering work to the practical experience of sailing.

Current development focus

Making the information useful.

The SailGauge hardware has been proven through engineering and testing. With that work complete, the focus is now on the sailing experience: clear information, consistent feedback, and controls that make sense while underway.

The software is in on-water field testing on preproduction systems. Through the winter, beta sailors in warmer waters are adding sailing time, and their feedback guides the final refinements before production deliveries begin in spring 2027.

SailGauge optional 7-inch display showing wind, speed, depth, and headsail and mainsail readings around a boat diagram — SailGauge optional 7" display.

Help shape what's next.

Production SG1000 deliveries are planned for spring 2027. Until then, a small group of sailors is helping refine the everyday experience through our beta testing program.

Explore beta testing Explore the SG1000