I came to eSail after putting in over 100 hours on Sailaway. I still go back to Sailaway occasionally as it has its own strengths, such as if you just want to head off into the depths of the ocean, but eSail is in another league and I can’t recommend it enough. As others have said, at the very least you’ll learn plenty about how to sail, which isn’t offered anywhere else to this degree. This review is mostly a comparison of the two, and hopefully that may help – when I was first trying to decide which one to go with, I didn’t have a clear idea of the differences.

The sailing. eSail is so in-depth here – you can select lines and winches, move your crew around, anchor, deploy fenders, moor in marinas, plot your position on the chart down in the cabin. Simple things like being able to back the jib – crank it out on the windward side, whereas in Sailaway this can’t be done as the sail controls are far more dumbed down. You can pull the lines by hand or winch them, operate the jammers. Also, getting the sails right feels more demanding and therefore satisfying, not least because the telltales flutter much more believably than in Sailaway – it feels like there’s less spoon-feeding going on. The sailing simulation is massively in-depth.

The water. The water is much less neat and regular than in Sailaway. With the new advanced water in the latest beta, the water is much more convincing overall. The spray is a little less impressive and certainly there’s some work to be done before this area matches up to Sailaway. That said, eSail is still openly in Early Access, so big allowances have to be made. I don’t know if it’s down to the slight translucency of the water or what, but eSail also doesn’t quite have the satisfying sense of the boat carving purposefully through the water that Sailaway has. This might also be down to the lack of rushing water audio, or the splash SFX that aren’t always in sync with the motion of the boat. But, when you’ve set the boat up from scratch, gone to the trouble of hoisting the sails and winching everything so it’s all just right and then headed out from your mooring, you’re already immersed and have plenty of other things to worry about. The boat rocks believably too and the sails flutter as the boat rolls through the wind, whereas in Sailaway the boat is always heeled over by the wind, irrespective of the waves, and the sails only flap if they need adjusting.

The world. This is far more varied than Sailaway. Essentially in eSail you’re doing coastal sailing around a large island with some smaller outlying islands. There’s no great expanse of ocean to head off into like in Sailaway – when I tried in eSail I ended up in a black-screen place with no boat and had to resort to the very handy reset button in the menu that resolves many of the Early Access ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that will be encountered.

The smaller world also means it’s more condensed and interesting - there are details on the land, like trees, marinas, buildings and vehicles. They are more solid and believable than in Sailaway – they don’t have the dreaded hop where they jerk and relocate every few seconds. This said, the landscape textures aren’t any better than in Sailaway yet, and Sailaway’s real time weather and sea state offers a lot. Then again, the stars in Sailaway are just a splatter of fuzzy dots, whereas the stars came out in eSail and I recognised some of the constellations. There are other boats – thundering cargo ships that you really have to watch out for, other sailing boats both sailing and moored or anchored, and smaller fishing boats. I feel like I’m part of this island community and there are plenty of other people about on the water.

I was merrily sailing along and could hear my engine rumbling. I thought, the engine isn’t on, is it? I was sure I’d turned it off. Checked the controls. Yes, definitely off. So what’s the rumbling? Getting louder. Much louder. And then JESUS CHRIST THAT WAS CLOSE!!! as a huge cargo ship ploughed by, so close I still don’t know how it missed me. Learned to keep a better look out and to think harder about where to sail when near harbours. The cargo ship was admittedly a huge, ugly, badly textured brown thing, which I’m putting down to it being an Early Access placeholder. The whole experience gave me enough of a moment of genuine panic that I was prepared to overlook the cosmetics anyway.

The boat. The boat does its job but it’s nowhere near as pretty as those in Sailaway. I feel like I bought a second hand cruiser off eBay, albeit one with plenty of character. In Sailaway you’ve got ocean-ready boats fresh from a showroom somewhere. eSail also only has the one boat – some variety there would go a long way. But it’s a capable and effective boat. The amount of things you can do on it makes it feel very real. I would like to be able to feel like I was standing on it though, rather than just controlling a floating camera that can orbit and zoom around the boat – the various camera positions in Sailaway feel much more immersive in this respect – there, I can actually sit in the cockpit.

The audio. This is mostly OK, but again there’s work to do before it’s quite as polished as Sailaway, which gives a better sense of speed through the water from the sound of the water rushing past. eSail also has two distinct recurring splash effects, so they can start to grate a little after a while due to the lack of variety and nothing but a little wind noise between each splash – no rushing water.

eSail promises more islands to sail to in future and possibly some tides. With these aspects and my wishlist of 1. Better landscapes/textures, 2. A choice of boats, 3. Being able to feel like you’re actually on the boat and 4. Better audio this would be an absolutely mindblowing experience. As it is, it’s a fantastic and in-depth (I think I mentioned that a few times) sailing simulation. It has a great world with character and atmosphere and if it continues to develop as it has been then it’s really going places.

MY E-SAIL SIMULATOR REVIEW BY GAZPODE_L

I first discovered this game, when it was previewed by a well known & respected twitch streamer "SteveChes"
(AKA SIM-UK.)

What I witnessed that day made me very excited to play the game, so I bought it when it was released recently.

As I own my own boat (3rd season) and have done many a flotilla in Greece, I know my way around and yacht and it's respective lines, however I still made a point of running through the quick-start tutorial to get to grips with the variety of controls.

PLAYING THE GAME - NO1- LEARN YACHTING WITH E-SAIL!
The tutorials themselves found within the "learn yaching" section are very well thought through and carefully explain what each function does and the effect it causes to the boat. I even found at times I was learning (or re-learning) some things which I had become rusty on such as anchoring and navigation - I'm hearing from the DEV's (Developers) who made the game that they are planning to release an expanded version of the navigation "tools" so that you can take hand-bearing compass bearings to do things like three-point fixes...I'm sure I can even mess around with things like transits, & clearing bearings!!!

NO2 - CHALLENGES
I will post a later review on these as I haven't had the time to look at any of these as yet, as I've spent so much time exploring using either locations or the main part of the game LIVE SAILING!

NO3 - LOCATIONS
There are four or five set "Scenarios" with a fixed time of day & weather conditions.

This mode places you into your chosen area, and is ideal for those who do not wish to go through the lengthy process of either sailing or motoring to the chosen point. The scenarios or "Locations" include being inside the pretty Webster Bay, starting off moored up or "Docked" at one of the two marina's in the game,and a couple of scenarios aimed at getting the best out of your sailing with one featuring a strong mid-afternoon breeze and another starting at dawn, with the sails down waiting for the wind to arrive!

NO4 - LIVE SAILING
This is where this game is at it's VERY BEST! Live sailing starts you off in a fixed position within the Game, a few miles outside the main islands. here you are subjected to changing weather conditions and sea-states and can choose to sail or motor to any part of the chain of islands currently in the game (the DEV's say they are working on more scenery).

There may be the odd occasion where you get stuck or run aground - this is NO issue as all you need to do is go into "Settings" by clicking on the cog in the top left menu and then click reset live sailing! you then find your situation reset and you can continue to enjoy sailing.

A few things I find particularly great about this sim which outmatches other sailing games/sims is 1) the weather - just as you do in Real life, if you go behind a headland or mountain range sheltered from the wind, it drops and the sea-state eases - BRILLIANT!

2) the anchoring part of this sim is spot-on and I found myself doing just the same things (and making the same errors!) as I had done on my own boats!

3) the third & final thing is the mooring feature - only one other sim supported this and that was very basic in nature by clicking one button - here you are able to control the lines and ease or tighten them to your satisfaction!

Then when it's time to go out again, you can create slip-lines and ease your boat slowly out of its berth!

All in all, a fantastic sim, with a friendly & attentive developer who actively continues to improve & polish an already very solid game/sim!

I can't wait to see what updates the rest of this year is going to bring for this excellent product!

I URGE you to go and purchase it today! It WILL benefit your sailing in real-life!

Having played this game for only a short period, I can definitely recommend it with a few reservations. As a sailor looking for a sail simulator, it does the job.

Are you going to sail great oceans? No, are you going to race with your friends online? No. But if you are interested in learning to sail, I can safely say that this will teach you the basics. Having taught people to sail, I think it does an excellent job within the constraints of the tutorial simulation.

It is definitely still a work in progress, but has a very active developer involvement. Recommendations and requests are noted and the developer works quickly to resolve small issues. Is this worth the $20 I paid for it? I don't think so. But am I upset about having paid it? No.

For ocean cruising, go elsewhere. For learning to sail, get this. For zipping around islands filled with landmarks and little points of interest? Get it.

Best recommendation: Put it on your wishlist and pick it up when you see it on sale (even if only 30%).

I own a sailboat in real life and have been sailing for decades. While I'm no expert, I do feel comfortable on the water. This is the best Sailing Sim out there. I'm using it to teach my girlfriend how to sail. The tutorials are excellent. Clear, concise, and helpful. I've learned a few new things as well.

I especially like the view and camera angles. The tell tale windows are a huge help. The anchoring and mooring modes are a great touch and really useful in learning the actual skills.

The boat itself is setup very well for learning. It has just enough complexity to be useful in the real world, but not overwhelming.

The only negative I can find so far is that there is not enough danger of damage to the boat. There's no real reason to reef the sail, except for practice. I should not be able to fly full canvas in 28 knot winds, then crash gybe and spin through all points of sail without any repurcussions. Learning to sail this way gives you a false sense of security. In real life I'd be doing some serious damage to my boat, if not outright capsizing.

Some improvement suggestions I'd love to see:

Please let me be able to see the telltales with a reef in!

Options for the following:
Tiller steering
Whisker pole
Hanked on headsails, and more of them. Genoa, Spinnaker, Storm Jib, etc.
Gusts and changing wind directions
User adjustable wind speed
A better way to see when the sails are luffing, and where the curve/twists are in the sails.
Tutorial for radio usage would be nice.

All in all a great sim. The dev should be proud.

Excellent sailing simulator. I strongly recommend it to anyone who knows how to sail already but wants to improve its skill. I feel it's high realistic, to the extent of getting a bit of seasickness after a long gaming session!

I think the game could be improved in a number of ways, however:

- No spinnaker :-(
- No prop walk
- More mooring challenges
- No multi-player
- No real-life maps

I also agree with others that the terrain textures aren't great, but to me that is secondary.

Beware, it's addictive!

Good job!

I wish I could give this game a Neutral score as it is a easy to learn sailing sim. Tutorials are fine, the auto crew is good.

But...
The graphics look like something from the 1990's . The boat is ok but the ocean is not very nice and the land is very badly done. I know it is a sailing sim but the shoreline is a part of the journey, a destination. Only one boat to choose from and no interior detail at all. The weather is poorly done. No sorry I think this could have been way better then it is. Of course only my opinion Im sure there is a lot of people very happy with the product. it's just not for me..

I've been sailing for 50+ years. My crusty old grandfather taught me port and starboard before left and right. This sim makes me smell the salt air and feel the spray! I highly recommend this (and have to my sailing club) for anyone from the novice just trying to move a boat forward, to more experienced who understands topping lifts and sail shape (flat is fast).
I’ve really enjoyed this game, which is more of an experience than just game play. Tech support has been phenomenal! I had a slight issue that was responded to immediately and fixed. Please note this was an issue with the Steam install and not the software.
I give this the highest rating of any game I’ve used. Get this game – you will not be sorry.

eSail is the deepest and most realistic sailing simulator available at the moment, which is a remarkable achievement considering it's the effort of a solo developer. Somehow, this humble indie title offers more realism, features, and gameplay options than any other sailing game to date. It's accurate enough that you'll learn the basics of sailing a yacht without ever leaving land and begin to grasp some advanced concepts as well. While nothing compares to actually learning out on the water, the verisimilitude of eSail comes about as close as a game can get to the real deal.

High-fidelity realism is the name of the game here. There are plenty of tutorials which will teach you how to raise and lower each sail, how to stop and slow down, proper sail trim technique, and plenty more, all while you're actually controlling the boat and getting a feel for how it works. The tutorials are great, but some critical information is sequestered away in the Quick Start missions - I probably sailed for 20 hours before I tried the Quick Starts and discovered that I could adjust the jib travelers and the backstay. There's a lot of information to digest here and you'll want to spend some time really reading and understanding each step before moving on if you want to get the most out of the tutorials. Where eSail really goes the extra mile is the docking and anchoring mechanics. This critical stage of boating is almost never simulated, and eSail makes it a major focus with lots of mooring options, even down to the minute details of selecting which mooring lines to use and placing fenders on the side of the yacht. The charting feature is also great practice for the real deal - using straight edge and compass to plot a course and distance using the stadia markings on the chart is something I didn't realize I was missing until I played eSail.

Only one yacht is available at the time of writing, a sloop rigged coastal cruiser/light bluewater boat with a jib and asymmetric spinnaker as well as an inboard diesel. Getting perfect sail trim requires precision and practice but is very satisfying. Apparent wind changes as you accelerate and the boat can be difficult to handle in high winds if you don't reef the sails. Sail depth and twist are accurately modeled and critical to getting the most speed out of the hull. My only real gripe with the realism is that there are few consequences for failure. Rigging never breaks, and while you can capsize you have to try really hard to do so. On the other hand, running aground is quite easy and takes some doing to get unstuck. The fictional setting of Shearwater Island is relatively small but contains lots of detailed marinas and points of interest. Without spoiling too much, there are also opportunities for long, multi-day bluewater passages if you explore enough of the island. Many of the areas are tailored to challenge a specific skill set, such as navigating shallow channels, squeezing through narrow inlets or quickly changing direction. Lots of folks seem to criticize the graphics; as someone who grew up in the DOS era they've never really bothered me, but I'm also glad that development time is going into improving the physics and the core features of the sim rather than art assets.

When choosing a sailing sim, most Steam users face the decision between SailAway and eSail. SailAway offers slightly better graphics, arcade-like physics, and the entire planet to sail, while eSail focuses on realistic sail handling and a smaller, handcrafted world with lots of detail. What rules SailAway out of contention in my mind is the contemptible business practices and behavior they've displayed on the Steam platform: Downgrading paying customers' copies of the game, releasing an updated version on their own site while leaving the lesser version on Steam, and being outright condescending to folks who dare criticize their outdated game. On the other hand, Chris Baldwin of eSail is immersed in the Steam community and actively implements user suggestions to improve the game faster than most major studios can release a bugfix. Two of the major requests from players - a spinnaker and online multiplayer races and open-world sailing - were both recently added. He's clearly dedicated to making it the best sailing sim on the market, and if you're serious about getting the best sailing simulator, this one is only going to get better.

I've spent about 20 hours in this sim so far. Let me talk about what I don't like first. The graphics are very bad. Early 2000's bad. You only get one boat. There is only one map that is fictitious. There are no mods. The chart that comes with this map only covers the main island, so you really can't chart and plot long ranges.(Edit: I was wrong, there's a whole "Treasure Hunting" aspect of the game, where you find objects and unlock charts) I bought both eSail and Sailaway. eSail, despite its shortcomings, is WAYYYY better. eSail actually simulates more than Sailaway does.
Sailaway reels you in with the graphics, real world map and multiple vessels, but trust me, An hour in and I was hating every frustrating minute of it.

Now let's get to the good stuff. The controls are good. The tutorials are very good and are voiced, but the bouys that you have to sail to, in order to get to the next tutorial, are kind of annoying and I kept getting caught up in them. I ended up using the menu to get to the next tutorial. Which, by the way, the menu is better than the confusing one in Sailaway. The water graphics are good enough that they get the job done. The views, angles, and options are good a little sluggish, but good. The physics feel fairly realistic. The deck hands are a little clunky at first, but you get used to them fairly quickly. There are easter eggs all over the place that took a little while to notice. I didn't realize that there was more to the map than what was on the chart, which was cool, in that you had to venture out to find them, but kinda sucked that you couldn't plot your course for those islands. I like that it simulates an engine, autopilot, mooring and anchoring, Sailaway doesn't. Whoever makes Sailaway, needs the devs from eSail to show them how to properly present views in game and simulate anchoring, mooring, and an engine. Whoever makes eSail needs the Devs from Sailaway to show them how to make real world maps and more boat options. After playing this for some time, It's actually really fun.

I picked up eSail and another sailing simulator (who shall remain nameless), in hopes of picking up some skills before sailing the real thing. I've only been out sailing a couple of times, handling the lines & tiller once, so take this with a grain of salt... but eSail comes across as very realistic in its modeling of sailing. Telltales flutter and aren't consistent. Waves are complex, and act upon the hull in a believable manner, causing the boat to rock and the sails to change their angle in the wind appropriately.

It does take some time and effort to learn how to work the lines, and figure out why something's not working the way you expect, like having a jammer locking a line that you're trying to release. Once you've got the hang of it, the rest falls into place. I find myself walking through a mental process to tack & gybe, and it ought to be that much easier once I do it on a real sailboat.

Initially, the sailing area feels tiny, and that put me off a bit. There's twelve (if I remember correctly) points of interest (POI) that can be searched out and discovered by clicking on them, though. Once all of them have been found, the sim opens up a much larger area for sailing.

A few things in the sim are awkward and could be made more accessible. Changing the time of day involves exiting, relaunching, then changing the time scale to cause time to flow that much faster. Once your desired time of day arrives, wash rinse repeat to change the time scale back. Awkward, but doable. Also, some of the discoveries require some awkward use of the external camera. It's not a deal breaker, but it's awkward.

All in all, I'd recommend eSail.

Update:

A few days ago, I managed to finish tracking down all the POIs, both Level 1 and Level 2. Weather was rough (Force 8 to 10) when I made my first trip around Navarone, so I headed east, found shelter and tied up at the Water Head Islands. Once the weather tamed down, I was able to head back west to Navarone and finish off the POIs that I missed. Getting through the marsh to the research station was more successful (though still horribly frustrating) once the weather calmed down to a Force 2 or so.

Having completed the POIs, I took the last couple real world afternoons and sailed back south to the Shearwater Island. The sun was setting just as I came abreast of Last Shilling Island, and I was so very tempted to just heave to and wait for daylight to make my way into the Bay. That said... the weather was nice, and I wasn't able to catch a recent forecast for tomorrow's weather (wasn't broadcasting; not sure if that's a bug or not, but it added a nice bit of uncertainty and realism so I won't complain). I did a bit of reading up on the symbols for the "aids to navigation" lights, figured out which was which, and used them and the GPS to make my way safely into the bay. Kept my eye on the boat traffic coming in, just one sailboat and a couple powerboats. Wind was from the west southwest, but I was determined to make my way (mostly) under sail, so I had to tack back and forth a bit to get into the harbor. Once past the buoys, I dropped the sails and motored my way in. Tied up, and settled down for the night.

As much fun as it was collecting the POIs, I'm more proud of making it into the harbor at night, without running aground or into another boat.

I'm really hoping that the winter I've spent with eSail has given me a bit of a clue when it comes to sailing. I've purchased a 19' O'Day Weekender as a project boat, then fell into a mostly complete 26' Westerly Centaur for dirt cheap. The O'Day still needs a bit of work to make comfortable; the Centaur was on the tail end of a refit by the previous owner and just needs a good going over, plus the cabin wiring completed. I've spent a good portion of my life boating, but I've only one session sailing on a Flying Scot... while the bug has bit, I'm still a newb sailing. I'd still like to get a few sessions in at the local sailing school, but with any luck, the experience I've picked up on this simulator will help me when I finally get to put one of my boats on the water.