Your first ten minutes.

How to · 30 October 2026

You do not need a training day to start. This is the first ten minutes: signing up, what you are looking at, and the order that gets a boat checked quickly. Each step links to a longer guide when you want the detail.

Sign up

Tap Get a beta invite on yachtgrade.com and you land on Create your account. Fill in:

1. Company name. The name your reports go out under.
2. First name, Last name, your email and your phone number.
3. A password of at least 10 characters, typed twice.
4. Language. It is already set to your phone's language. Your reports are written in this language, and everyone you invite can pick their own.
5. Tick the box to agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy. It starts unticked on purpose.
6. Tap Create company.

Most of the time you go straight into the app. If you get a Check your email screen instead, open the link in that email on the same phone and you are in. The first 100 beta members get 5 boats free for life, with no card on file.

What Today shows

Today is the screen the app opens on. It puts the boats that need you first under Needs you first: a check in progress, open action items, or a boat whose setup is not finished. Everything else sits under The rest. You also see Visits this week and, once a boat has been scored, Fleet health.

Each boat is a card. Tap the name to open the boat's file, or tap Start check (it reads Resume check when one is open). With no boats yet, Today says No boats yet. and Add a boat is right there.

The tab bar and the Menu

Along the bottom you have Today, Boats, Calendar, Map and More. The first four are screens. More opens the Menu, and the Menu holds everything else.

Type in the box at the top of the Menu, Find a feature or a boat, and it finds either one. Below it the Menu is grouped: your boats, all boats, working with others, your company and your account. What you see depends on your role. A tech does not see Team or Billing. Billing is for the owner. Team, the company logo, report email and data export are for owners and admins.

The tour

The first time you open Today, a short tour walks you across the screen one sentence at a time. Tap Next to move on, Back to go back, Skip tour to drop that screen's tour, or Skip all tours to turn them all off. The last step says Done.

Skipped it by accident? Open More, then under your account tap Show me around again. It replays the short tour on each screen. There is also a small Getting around card on the Account screen with three reminders: tap Boats at the bottom for your fleet, tap the name to open the boat, and swipe right to go back.

The order to do things in

1. Add your company logo. Owners and admins: Menu, then Company settings, then Company logo. It sets the logo and colors on your reports. Do it first and your first report already looks like yours.
2. Add a boat. Tap Add a boat on Today. Then walk the boat in the app and confirm what is aboard. The first check waits until that walk is done, because the walk is what fits the checklist to the boat. The full walk-through is in set up your first boat.
3. Invite your techs. Go to Account, then Team, pick a role and tap Create link. Send the link to them. How roles and permissions work is in add techs and permissions.
4. Run the first check. Open the boat and tap Start check. See run a boat inspection on board.

Once a check is finished, the boat gets a score and a report. For what the score means, read the boat health score explained, and for what the owner sees, show owners what changed between visits. To get the app on your phone, see install YachtGrade on your phone.

Common questions

Where do I start in YachtGrade?
Sign up, add your logo, add a boat, invite your techs, then start the first check. The first check on a new boat waits until you have walked the boat and confirmed what is aboard.

I cannot find a feature. Where is it?
Tap More, then use the search box at the top of the Menu. If it is still not there, your role may not include it. Team, billing, the company logo and data export are for owners and admins only.

How do I see the tour again?
Tap More, then Show me around again. It replays the short tour on each screen.

I got a Check your email screen after signing up. What now?
Open the link in that email on the same phone. The link works once, so if it fails, go to sign in and ask for a new one. More on that in trouble signing in.

Do my techs need their own sign up?
No. You send each one an invite link from Account, then Team, and they create their login from that link. See join your company on YachtGrade for what they see.

More how-to guides

• Put YachtGrade on your home screen
• Trouble signing in
• Join your company from an invite
• Settings and language
• Add a boat and build its equipment profile
• Set up a boat by walking it
• Equipment, engine hours and parts
• Documents and renewals
• Photos and the cover photo
• Set up a boat inspection checklist
• Run a boat inspection on your phone
• Photos and answers with no signal
• How the boat health score works
• Show boat owners what changed
• QR codes and maintenance by engine hours
• Findings and the to-do list
• Finish a check and send the report
• Answer checks by voice
• Photos not uploading
• Make a fire and safety plan
• Maintenance schedules
• Add techs and set permissions
• Teams and assigning work
• Schedule visits on the calendar
• Send owners a list to approve
• Give boat owners access
• Vendors and estimates
• Customize checklist templates
• Your logo and email on reports
• Fleet trends and reviews
• Export your data and billing
• Remove or archive a boat
• Common questions and fixes

YachtGrade was designed by a USCG 100-ton captain who spent five years managing, detailing, running and selling boats in South Florida, after four years building IT systems for businesses. Who built it →