Terms of Use

These terms cover your use of the SailSpo iPhone app and sailspo.com (together, “SailSpo”), run by its owner, Mark Schwab (“SailSpo”, “we”, “us”). By creating an account or using SailSpo, you agree to them. If you don’t agree, please don’t use SailSpo. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information.

1. Who can use SailSpo

You must be at least 13 years old to use SailSpo. If you are under the age of majority where you live, you need a parent’s or guardian’s permission. You are responsible for your account and for keeping your sign-in details safe. Give accurate information, especially in your Sailor ID.

2. Community rules: zero tolerance

SailSpo has shared itineraries, comments, place reviews, photos, places and suggested edits that other sailors read. We have zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive users. You must not post, upload or send anything that is:

• objectionable, offensive, obscene or sexually explicit;
• abusive, harassing, bullying, threatening or intimidating;
• hateful or discriminatory toward anyone, including on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or nationality;
• violent, or encouraging violence, self-harm or dangerous acts;
• illegal, or encouraging illegal activity;
• someone else’s private information, or content you don’t have the right to share;
• impersonation of another person or organization, or a false Sailor ID, voyage, certificate or identity;
• spam, advertising, scams, or misleading or deliberately false information about places and routes.

Reporting. You can report any comment, review, shared route or place in the app (look for Report or Report a problem). A comment or review reported by several people is hidden automatically while we review it. We review reports within 24 hours and remove content that breaks these rules.

Blocking. You can block any sailor from their comment. Their comments and reviews then disappear for you everywhere. Unblock them any time under Your profile → Blocked sailors.

Enforcement. SailSpo may remove or hide any content, and suspend or permanently ban any account, that breaks these rules, with or without notice. Where content is illegal or someone is at risk, we may report it to the authorities. See Support for how to report and block.

3. Sailing safety: guidance, not advice

Sailing is dangerous. Everything in SailSpo is for planning and inspiration only, and is not professional, navigational or safety advice. This includes itineraries, routes and stops, distances and passage times, anchorage and place notes, weather, sea and tide information, conditions, difficulty levels, charts and community markers, and Sailor ID levels and grades.

• Information can be incomplete, out of date or wrong. Many routes, notes and reviews come from other sailors.
• SailSpo is not a navigation aid. Always use official charts, current notices, local knowledge and proper forecasts, and check conditions yourself before and during every passage.
• The skipper is responsible for the vessel, the crew and every decision to sail, anchor or stay in port. Only sail within your experience and the boat’s limits.
• A Sailor ID level or a verified identity is not a license, certification or qualification. Charter companies, marinas and authorities make their own decisions about who may charter or skipper a boat.

4. Trips, money and bookings

Trip expenses, splits and settle-ups in SailSpo are records your crew keeps for itself. SailSpo does not hold or move money; payments you make in Venmo or elsewhere are between you and the other person, under that service’s terms. Check the numbers before you pay. Charter boats, flights and fares come from third parties. Prices and availability can change, and any booking is between you and the provider, under its terms. SailSpo may earn a commission when you book through a link.

5. Your content

You own what you post. By posting content to SailSpo (such as routes, comments, reviews, photos, places and suggested edits), you give SailSpo a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, display, adapt (for example resize or format) and distribute it to run, show and promote SailSpo. For content you share publicly, that includes letting other sailors view it and copy shared routes into their own trips. The license ends when you delete the content or your account, except for copies other sailors already made, content that stays with shared trips and the library as our Privacy Policy describes, and backups. You promise you have the right to post what you post, and that it follows these terms.

6. Our content and the app

SailSpo, its design, software, curated guides and library are ours or our licensors’. Some photos and map data are used under their own licenses and credited where shown. You may use SailSpo for your own sailing plans. Don’t copy, scrape or resell the library, reverse engineer the app, get around its limits or security, or use it in a way that harms SailSpo or other sailors.

7. Ending your account

You can delete your account at any time in the app (Crew tab → Your profile → Delete my account, or My Trips → Delete my account) or at sailspo.com/account. We may suspend or end your account if you break these terms, if we must by law, or if we stop offering SailSpo. Sections 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 continue after your account ends.

8. No warranty

SailSpo is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including that SailSpo will be accurate, uninterrupted, error-free, or fit for a particular purpose. Features may change or stop.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, SailSpo and its owner are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for loss of data, profits, bookings or enjoyment, or for personal injury or property damage arising from sailing or from relying on information in SailSpo. Our total liability for any claim about SailSpo is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or US$50. Some places don’t allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you.

10. Indemnity

If someone makes a claim against SailSpo because of content you posted or your breach of these terms, you agree to cover the reasonable costs, to the extent the law allows.

11. Apple

These terms are between you and SailSpo, not Apple. Apple is not responsible for the app or its support. Your use of the app must also follow the App Store’s Usage Rules. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them.

12. Changes

We may update these terms. We will change the date at the top, and tell you in the app or by email when a change is significant. Using SailSpo after a change means you accept the new terms.

13. Contact

Questions, reports or complaints: support@sailspo.com. You can also report content by email with a link or screenshot; we review reports within 24 hours.