Ahoy, MarineVerse community and friends!

Ten years ago, I slid a smartphone into a Google Cardboard viewer and strapped it to my face. The graphics were basic. The ocean was silent. There was no hand tracking - I steered simply by looking, guiding the boat with my gaze. I looked ridiculous standing in my living room.

But for a split second, the walls disappeared. I was sailing.

The first VR sailing prototype

Today, that scrappy experiment has evolved into immersive environments, realistic boat physics, and the world’s largest virtual sailing club. The technology has changed, but the dream remains the same: enable more people to sail, anytime and anywhere.

From mastering the basics of sail trim to racing friends across the globe, we’ve helped turn sailing from a “someday” dream into an everyday practice for thousands of sailors around the world.

Why Did We Create MarineVerse?

Sailing is a rewarding lifelong pastime with countless benefits-the joy of being immersed in nature, the meditative flow of reading wind and waves, the satisfaction of racing, and the endless challenge of mastering new skills.

It’s not just a sport or hobby. For us and many others, it’s an identity-we call ourselves “sailors.”

2016 - MarineVerse Founders Greg and Olga hard at work on early research

Sailing can be enjoyed by kids, adults, and seniors alike. Solo or with friends. We want more people to experience it.

But real barriers stand in the way: time, cost, skill, and access. If you don’t know a sailor, you may not know how to get started. If you don’t live near the water, or it’s the middle of winter, you simply can’t sail-even if you desperately want to.

I have my own origin story. As a teenager, I took “Sea Survival Training” organized by scouts. We were packed into someone’s flat in winter, snow falling outside, learning the procedure to launch a life raft-from a book! With VR, that kind of learning experience can be so much better.

I also remember my very first time on the dock-my first real encounter with a sailboat. The instructor walked us through the parts of the boat before we set off. “This is the tiller.” “This is the jib.” I remember thinking: What is all this vocabulary? It sounds like a foreign language. It was a lot to absorb on day one. With VR, we can ease people into that experience, letting them learn the basics at home before they ever step aboard.

And for many of us, some experiences seem completely out of reach-competing in high-speed catamarans like SailGP’s F50s, or taking a year to circumnavigate the globe.

With VR, we can break down all of these barriers.

Our purpose is simple: grow sailing by helping everyone experience it more often.

The Impact We’ve Had So Far

Just on the Meta Quest platform alone, over 54,000 people have tried sailing and completed our introductory lesson (that’s a packed stadium of new sailors). Many had never stepped onto a sailboat before-now they understand the basics of steering, how to trim a sheet, and the thrill of catching the wind.

“This app has been phenomenal, providing all the lessons I need to get on the water and helping me understand the fundamentals.”

  • littlebopeep89

For experienced sailors, MarineVerse has become a way to stay sharp-or reconnect with a passion they thought they’d lost.

“I’m a 61-year-old disabled sailor who rather misses the days of lake sailing. I find this incredibly immersive-sailing feels natural right down to using telltales to trim my sails.”

  • VRCanuck101

“It helps me be a better racer in real life. I also use it to relax on my virtual boat.”

  • VRMatrixMD

Every day, we organize “Daily Race Practice” competitions across Yacht, Dinghy, Opti, Catamaran, Waszp, and Hansa 303 classes-over 78,000 races so far. Weekly, we host live multiplayer races with voice chat, where genuine friendships have formed. We’re proud of the friendly club vibe our community has created.

How Are People Participating in MarineVerse Sailing Club?

There are many ways to enjoy MarineVerse:

Relax on Virtual Waves Enjoy immersive, scenic environments and the good vibes of sailing without the complexity. Cruise past tropical shores, watch the sunset from your cockpit, or simply enjoy the sound of water against the hull.

Master the Art of Sailing Use VR as a safe simulator to learn practical skills and build confidence for real-world sailing. Progress at your own pace with structured lessons covering everything from basic steering to advanced racing tactics.

Race and Climb Leaderboards Test your skills, practice racing tactics, and compete in daily challenges or live multiplayer events. See how you stack up against sailors from around the world.

Sail When You Can’t in Real Life As an experienced sailor, you can use VR to maintain skills off-season or reconnect with your passion when you can’t be on the water. Mix and match relax, learn, and race modes to suit your needs.

MarineVerse Sailing Club brings authentic sailing experiences into VR, enabling people to “Sail More Often” - whether for learning, competing, or pure relaxation.

Where We’ve Been

We’ve come so far together:

  • From Google Cardboard experiments to the mainstream Quest Store
  • From VR Regatta to MarineVerse Sailing Club
  • From simple solo sailing to global competitions
  • From gaming curiosity to real sailing education with NauticEd

Every milestone happened because of you.

Important MarineVerse Milestones

Ten Years of Shared Memories

2016 – The year we proved you could feel the joy of sailing without leaving your house. It started with early VR Regatta prototypes on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. We realized that even with simple graphics, the feeling of being on the water was there. Our “Relaxing” mode showed us that VR wasn’t just for gaming-it was for experiencing the freedom of the open water.

2017 – The year the vision got supercharged. With support from Film Victoria, our small team was able to go “all in.” With the help of experts, we took the app graphics and sounds to the next level, making the immersion deep enough to truly trick the senses. We also started chatting together on the MarineVerse Discord server, laying the foundation for the community we have today.

2018 – The year sailing became portable. We launched Big Breezy Boat on Oculus Go. Suddenly, you didn’t need a massive PC to sail. You could take the ocean with you anywhere. In the same year, VR Regatta 1.0 officially launched on Steam.

Greg (developer) enjoying Oculus Start swag.

2019 – The year we started racing together. We launched MarineVerse Cup in early access for Quest and SteamVR and kicked off our “Daily Race Practice” events. This was the moment sailing stopped being a solo activity and became a shared competition.

2021 – The year the floodgates opened. With the MarineVerse launch on App Lab, we removed the waitlists and invites. Anyone could now join the beta, and the community began to grow rapidly.

2022 – The year VR sailing went mainstream. Launching on the main Meta Quest Store was our graduation day. But more importantly, it was the year sailing VR reached a global audience, bringing the sport to people who had never set foot on a real dock.

2023 – The year we bridged the gap between gaming and education. Our partnership with NauticEd brought real sailing mastery to VR. We added self-mastery modules, navigation rules, and docking exercises, proving that virtual practice builds real-world competence.

2024 – The year the world opened up. We began the journey to MarineVerse Globe. We stopped being limited to specific maps and started building a persistent world where you can sail Earth’s real oceans, battling weather based on real forecasts.

2025 – The year we became a Club. We renamed MarineVerse Cup to MarineVerse Sailing Club. It’s a reflection of who we are now: not just a regatta, but a place to learn, explore, and belong.

Learn more about our history →

The Next Ten Years

We’re just getting started.

Our vision remains unchanged: enable more people to sail. But our ambitions have grown.

Imagine a Tuesday evening in 2030. Outside, it’s dark and snowing. Inside, you slip on lightweight VR glasses and are instantly transported to the coast of New Zealand in MarineVerse Globe. The waves are rolling in real-time, synced to actual weather buoys in the Pacific.

Concept art - 2030 MarineVerse Globe vision.

You practice a “man overboard” drill in heavy weather, guided by an AI coach that analyzes your actions and suggests a strategy. You aren’t just playing a game; you’re logging miles in your virtual logbook. And next summer, when you head to the yacht club, the certification you earned in the virtual world is accepted at the rental dock.

Or picture the weekend. You’re lining up for the World Championship final alongside skippers from fifty different nations. The start is tense, chaotic, and thrilling. As you maneuver for position, the Racing Rules of Sailing are enforced automatically in real-time, ensuring fair play in the heat of battle. You push for the lead, knowing the stakes are real-the podium finishers won’t just win a digital trophy, but a professional gear sponsorship from a global sailing brand.

The line between virtual practice, esports, and on-water skill will continue to blur. That is the future we are building.

And specifically this year, we plan to focus on improving the first 30 minutes in the app, to inspire even more first-timers to become VR sailors.

Thank You

To everyone who has sailed with us these past ten years - early adopters who believed in VR Regatta, beta testers who helped shape MarineVerse Cup, community members who race every week, and newcomers just discovering the joy of virtual sailing:

Thank you.

You’ve helped prove that sailing belongs in VR.

It’s impossible to thank everyone individually, but we want to recognize some of the sailors who’ve shaped this community:

A special shout-out to Moira J, who is a Helpful Hero on Discord, Globe Races event organizer, multiplayer community champion, volunteer, prolific contributor, and Patron supporter.

… and the hundreds of others racing, chatting, and sharing the joy of sailing every week.

This community is yours as much as ours.

Together, as virtual reality continues to grow, we’re going to help millions more people fall in love with sailing.

If MarineVerse has helped you, here are three ways you can support the next decade:

  1. Leave a review on the Quest store (it genuinely changes the game for us).
  2. Join a multiplayer event and bring a sailor friend along.
  3. Join as a MarineVerse Patreon to help fund our continued development.

Here’s to ten more years on the water together.

❤️⛵

Fair winds,

Greg Dziemidowicz The MarineVerse Team

#SailMoreOften #MarineVerse10Years #VRSailing

MarineVerse team hard at work on research and development.