JibTrak

Garmin watch

Your next handover, on your wrist.

JibTrak’s Garmin watch app counts down to your handover and buzzes you awake ahead of it. If you don’t answer, it keeps going, faster and firmer, until you press a button. It also puts the handicap ladder and the Mark ping and GPS ping tools on your wrist.

An illustration of JibTrak’s screen on a Garmin watch while you are on watch. At the top are the boat time, 14:20, and the words ON WATCH. The big countdown reads 1:39:52, labelled until you're OFF. Underneath are the next event, sunset at 19:42, and the next watch, which starts at 16:00 with Kai, Priya and Tom. A small bell shows that the alarms are set, and three bars show that the watch has recently synced with the phone.
On watch: the countdown to your handover, and who’s next
An illustration of JibTrak’s screen on a Garmin watch while you are off watch and asleep, dimmed so it doesn’t light up the cabin. The boat time is 02:42 and the words say OFF - sleep. The big countdown, 2:18, is labelled until you're ON, and below it a small line says: for alarms, keep JibTrak on top. A small bell shows that the alarms are set.
Asleep: the screen dims and the countdown stays

Illustrations of JibTrak’s screen on a Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2), not screenshots. The times and names are made up.

  • Google PlayComing soonAndroid phones and tablets
  • App StoreComing sooniPhone and iPad, after Android
  • Coming soonGarmin Connect IQJibTrak, for the epix Pro (Gen 2)
  • A big countdown to your next watch, with who’s coming on beside you.
  • An alarm that gets more insistent until you answer it. It gives up by itself after a few minutes.
  • A dim screen while you sleep, so a glance from the bunk doesn’t light up the cabin.
  • Start-sequence beeps to the gun. Admins can also postpone the start or end the race from the wrist.
  • The handicap ladder. The boats you’ve ticked as racing, with the time each one owes you or you owe it, and how far away that puts it. Pick a boat to open its Scope.
  • Mark ping and GPS ping. Tap a boat as it rounds a mark, or as it passes you going the other way, and the watch works out who was really ahead. Pings made on the watch and on the phone are shared both ways whenever the phone is near.
  • Works with the phone off. The watch keeps its own copy of the schedule and syncs over Bluetooth when the phone is near.

Currently built for the Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2), in the 42, 47 and 51 mm sizes. No other watch is supported yet.

The watch shortlist

Garmin watches worth considering

We’ve looked at the Garmin range and picked out the watches that look best for offshore sailing and racing.

Each watch gets our own mark out of 100: up to 35 for how well it would suit JibTrak, 25 for offshore use, 15 for its other features and 25 for price and looks. The total is those four added up. They’re our opinions, not test results.

quatix 8

Marine

The natural premium choice for a sailor. Marine-focused, rugged and built on Garmin’s high-end watch platform.

JibTrak
32/35
Offshore
21/25
Features
14/15
Price & looks
15/25
Total
82/100

RRP £780 (47 mm)

Garmin UK for quatix 8Amazon UK for quatix 8Retailer: coming soon for quatix 8

Enduro 3

Offshore

The endurance specialist. Exceptional battery life and a screen that stays readable in bright sunlight make it particularly interesting for long races. The catch is that the screen isn’t AMOLED, so JibTrak’s colours look flatter, and it is a plain-looking watch.

JibTrak
29/35
Offshore
24/25
Features
12/15
Price & looks
15/25
Total
80/100

RRP £700

Garmin UK for Enduro 3Amazon UK for Enduro 3Retailer: coming soon for Enduro 3

quatix 8 Pro

Connected

The premium offshore option, adding inReach technology with LTE and satellite connectivity. It is also the dearest watch on the list, and inReach needs a separate Garmin subscription.

JibTrak
32/35
Offshore
22/25
Features
14/15
Price & looks
11/25
Total
79/100

RRP £900

Garmin UK for quatix 8 ProAmazon UK for quatix 8 ProRetailer: coming soon for quatix 8 Pro

fēnix 8 Pro

Tech

High-end fēnix with inReach connectivity. The MicroLED version is the technology showcase; AMOLED versions offer more choice. It costs about the same as the quatix 8 Pro without being built for boats.

JibTrak
32/35
Offshore
20/25
Features
15/15
Price & looks
11/25
Total
78/100

RRP £899

Garmin UK for fēnix 8 ProAmazon UK for fēnix 8 ProRetailer: coming soon for fēnix 8 Pro

fēnix 9

All-round

A premium multisport watch that makes a strong JibTrak platform without being specifically marine-branded. It costs more than the quatix 8, and for a sailor it is no more suited to the job.

JibTrak
32/35
Offshore
18/25
Features
14/15
Price & looks
12/25
Total
76/100

RRP £860 (47 mm)

Garmin UK for fēnix 9Amazon UK for fēnix 9Retailer: coming soon for fēnix 9

Instinct 3 AMOLED

Crew

Rugged, simple and good value, with a bright AMOLED screen and none of the Solar version’s round cut-out. Garmin quotes up to 18 days of battery as an ordinary watch, and about 7 with the screen always on. JibTrak lets the screen sleep but keeps running, so expect fewer than 18. The most interesting candidate if JibTrak is going on several crew wrists, though it is a smaller screen on a simpler watch.

JibTrak
24/35
Offshore
16/25
Features
8/15
Price & looks
21/25
Total
69/100

RRP £300 (45 mm)

Garmin UK for Instinct 3 AMOLEDAmazon UK for Instinct 3 AMOLEDRetailer: coming soon for Instinct 3 AMOLED

Forerunner 165

Budget

A very popular, light and easy-to-use running watch with a bright AMOLED screen and five buttons, and the cheapest way in here. It is built for running, not sailing: no marine features, no satellite messaging and no maps. Battery is about 11 days as an ordinary watch but only 19 hours with GPS on, and JibTrak keeps running so that no alarm is missed, so it may not last a long passage.

JibTrak
18/35
Offshore
7/25
Features
7/15
Price & looks
19/25
Total
51/100

RRP £250

Garmin UK for Forerunner 165Amazon UK for Forerunner 165Retailer: coming soon for Forerunner 165

What to avoid

The things we think will let you down on a boat.

  • Instinct 3 Solar. A small round window is cut into its screen, and most watch apps, JibTrak included, can’t use it, so they are hard to read. As far as we know the earlier Instinct watches have the same window. The Instinct 3 AMOLED doesn’t.
  • Activity bands and hybrid watches. Most can show a watch face and a few small widgets but can’t run a full watch app, and only a full app can wake you with a buzz and a beep.
  • A watch you have to charge every night. JibTrak doesn’t keep the screen lit: the watch sleeps as normal, and the screen wakes only for an alarm, the run-up to the start or a button press. But the app keeps running while the screen sleeps so that no alarm is missed, and that uses more battery than an ordinary watch face. On a passage of several days, battery life matters: look for days between charges with JibTrak running, not hours.

RRP is Garmin’s recommended retail price in the UK, as reported in early October 2026. Prices change and shops often sell for less, so check before you buy.

The Garmin buttons open that watch’s own page on Garmin UK, and the Amazon buttons open an Amazon UK search for it. Some watches come in more than one size or version, each with its own page, so check you have the one you want. They are ordinary links and nothing is tracked. A link to a chosen retailer is still to come.

inReach is Garmin’s satellite messaging. The quatix 8 Pro and fēnix 8 Pro have it built in, but you need a separate Garmin subscription to use it.