Building the intelligence layer beneath recreational boating.
SmartSail is the company behind Pathr Navigation, Pathr Co-Captain, and HelmLink. Together they become the world’s most experienced captain for recreational boating. We’re a Delaware C-corp, headquartered in California.
Boating got a chart. Everything else got a workflow.
Recreational boating is one of the largest underserved consumer technology markets in the country. 11.7 million registered American vessels (USCG). 85 million participants (NMMA). Over $55 billion in annual retail spend, growing across the chartplotter generation and the app-native one behind it.
Yet most owners still don’t have access to the confidence, judgment, and local knowledge that make for great days on the water. That experience is what makes a seasoned captain valuable. The category has never had a way to give it to every owner. Modern AI and modern marine data finally make it possible.
SmartSail is building that layer. We start with the navigation app that’s live today, add an AI working partner that learns from every trip, and bring it on the boat itself with a small piece of onboard hardware.
Three products. One stack.
Pathr Navigation is the consumer surface. Pathr Co-Captain is the intelligence layer. HelmLink is the sensor bridge. Together, they become the AI co-captain for recreational boating.
Pathr Navigation
A modern boating navigation app for owners who actually use their boats. Auto-routing tuned to the vessel, real-time weather and AIS traffic, anchor charts that show what's on the bottom. All offline.
Pathr Co-Captain
An AI working partner trained on every trip, every boat, every set of conditions. Plans smarter routes, briefs you before the trip, watches the things you can't underway, learns your vessel over time.
HelmLink
The home of the onboard Co-Captain. A small piece of hardware that bridges Pathr to the boat's existing autopilot, and hosts the AI advisor locally so it keeps working when cell signal doesn't.
SmartSail, by the numbers.
The legal entity, the founders, and where we are right now.
Three products. One stack on the boat.
The consumer surface. Live on iOS and Android.
The intelligence layer. Trained on every trip.
Onboard hardware. Local AI, offline-capable.
Together, they become the AI co-captain for recreational boating. Trained on every trip, every boat, every set of conditions.
A small team. The right one for this.
Three founders. Aviation-grade discipline, commercial-scale engineering, and award-winning product chops.
Flight test engineer on safety-critical autonomous systems. National Test Pilot School graduate. Sailing since childhood; tests Pathr on his own Catalina 38.
lucas.wright@smartsail.aiFounding engineer at an automation startup acquired by a $1B+ technology company. Full-stack geospatial engineer and IoT systems architect.
chris.netten@smartsail.aiAward-winning innovative product developer, concept to commercialization. Rapid and frugal prototyping expert.
will.gwinn@smartsail.aiPress, partners, and investors.
We’re always open to a real conversation. The fastest path in is a 30-minute meeting on Lucas’s calendar. Or just send an email.