Lowrance has unveiled a new fishfinder/chart plotter called Eagle, with features that include high-definition enhanced sonar, FishReveal technology, and C-Map charting with Genesis Live.

The Eagle fishfinder is an entry-level product with prices starting at $119. Display sizes are 4 inch, 5 inch, 7 inch and 9 inch, making Eagle usable aboard yacht tenders and toys, in addition to smaller boats that are part of an owner’s fleet.

“Eagle brings Lowrance’s high-definition sonar to our most easy-to-use fishfinder, providing the ultimate tool for weekend anglers,” Jeremiah Clark, vice president and general manager of fishing systems at Navico Group, stated in a press release. “Developed to make fishing simpler and more enjoyable, Eagle is quick to install—whether on a boat or kayak—and features enhanced autotuning sonar and comprehensive C-Map charts.”

Eagle has newly designed TripleShot HD and SplitShot HD that Lowrance says allow for improved clarity, depth performance and sensitivity, resulting in excellent performance under the surface. FishReveal on DownScan helps anglers identify fish separately from weeds and structures, making it easier to see what they’re trying to catch versus what they don’t want to snag on the hook.

Autotuning sonar is designed to optimize the device settings from the start, eliminating the hassle of anglers needing to constantly configure settings (that’s good news: more time for actual fishing). An improved twist-locking connector should allow for easier installation and removal, making Eagle a portable solution for any type of fishing. Boaters can simply connect and cast, Lowrance says.

Eagle also has a new, rugged design with an IPS screen for improved resolution, clarity and visibility in the marine environment, including with the types of polarized sunglasses boaters often wear in direct sunlight. Lowrance says the new range of imaging color palettes also allows anglers to adapt the display for changing conditions, so as sun and clouds shift in the sky, the images can adjust on the screen.

High-resolution C-Map inland charts for the United States are pre-loaded, with coverage of more than 17,000 American lakes and a range of coastal charting bundles. Eagle also lets users create custom half-foot contour maps of local lakes or unchartered water—in real time—with Genesis Live.

Is there an SD card slot on the Eagle model from Lowrance? Yes. This SD card slot can be used for software updates, Genesis Live recording and charting add-ons.

Take the next step: click over to lowrance.com

The post Lowrance Unveils the Eagle appeared first on Yachting.

Welcome to the third-annual Best Elex Awards, which honor innovative marine electronics and technology products that have been reviewed and approved by the editorial team behind the four leading titles in marine media: Boating, Yachting, Cruising World and Salt Water Sportsman. At the first of the year, the nominees were evaluated by our team of eight judges, including the editors-in-chief and electronics editors of the aforementioned brands. In the end, seven products set themselves apart. And the winners are:

• Editors’ Choice: KVH TracNet
• Leading Edge Technology: Simrad Halo 2000/3000
• Best in Navigation: Garmin Navionics+
• Best Integrated System: Lowrance HDS Pro w/ Active Imaging/ActiveTarget 2
• Most Innovative for Fishing: Furuno TZtouch3 w/ CHIRP Side-Scan Technology
• Best in Sonar: Garmin LiveScope XR
• Best in Entertainment: Kicker KMXL

Editors’ Choice: KVH TracNet Hybrid Antennas

What the Judges Said: “The most impressive feature is the antennas’ ability to seamlessly jump between cellular, Wi-Fi and VSAT networks, all with the lowest-cost routing and user experience in mind.” —David Schmidt, electronics editor, Yachting

Two of our eight judges gave KVH’s TracNet system perfect scores. And what’s not to like? This new system for onboard connectivity just might be as seamless as the internet setup in your home. And it doesn’t require an assortment of disparate parts, complicated connections and multiple bills. TracNet combines satellite, cellular and Wi-Fi under one dome. The system features automatic switching to keep boats connected using the best communication option at all times—without the need for hands-on tuning. The H30 ($18,995), H60 ($27,995) and H90 ($44,995) antennas match boats of 30, 60 and 90 feet, respectively. Paired to a belowdecks unit using an Ethernet power-over-coaxial cable, the H90 can deliver VSAT download speeds as fast as 40 Mbps (with Elite service). Boaters can also expect support for 5G/LTE cellular service where available, as well as the ability to add user-supplied SIM cards for local service. TracNet connects to shore-based Wi-Fi using an integrated bridge for additional speed.

Leading Edge Technology: Simrad Halo 2000/3000

What the Judges Said: “Veteran anglers have long sworn by power-hungry magnetron radars, scorning the advent of pulse-compression radars, for finding flocks of seabirds. But now there’s a pulse-compression radar that may change some minds.” —Jim Hendricks, electronics editor, Salt Water Sportsman and Boating

All the judges commented on the Simrad Halo 3000 Bird+ mode, labeling it innovative and a problem solver. In that mode, the open-array radar focuses all its juice toward finding birds for fishermen. It can reach out to 8 nautical miles, while other pulse-compression units might see flyers at 3 miles. Halo 3000 is available in 4- and 6-foot arrays, and delivers 130 watts for seeing out to 96 nautical miles. Its smaller sister, Halo 2000, is available in 3-, 4- and 6-foot arrays, and offers 50 watts of power for visibility to 72 nautical miles. Both arrays are equipped with ZoneTrack, which allows captains to track up to 50 vessels. Dangerous Target Alerts highlight the range, bearing and heading of other vessels. VelocityTrack shows color-coded targets to help identify threats. Halo 2000 starts at $6,399; the 3000 starts at $8,499.

Best in Navigation: Garmin Navionics+

What the Judges Said: “The big excitement for me is that Garmin has finally combined two excellent products into a single, intuitive interface. Throw in automatic daily updates, and the end user is the real winner here.” —Andrew Parkinson, editor-in-chief, Cruising World

When Garmin purchased marine-chart powerhouse Navionics about six years ago, boaters loved the idea of the two joining forces and the prospect of new navigational tools. And while the evolution took a little time, the process has come full circle with Garmin Navionics+. The all-in-one mapping solution features advanced autorouting, depth-range shading, vibrant colors, a streamlined interface, combined coastal and inland content plus a one-year subscription to daily chart updates through the ActiveCaptain app. Boaters can upgrade to Garmin Navionics Vision+ to add high-resolution relief shading, high-res satellite imagery, aerial photos and more. The charts come preloaded on a variety of new Garmin chart plotters and can be purchased online. Starting prices range from $149.99 to $249.99.

Best Integrated System: Lowrance HDS Pro w/Active Imaging/ActiveTarget 2

What the Judges Said: “HDS Pro delivers full ­networking with bow-to-stern boat control as well as compatibility with Lowrance’s latest live sonar—ActiveTarget 2—and the second generation of Active Imaging. That’s a lot of capability in one package.” —Chris Woodward, editor, Best Marine Electronics and Technology

How many features can you fit into one new multifunction display? If you ask Lowrance, the list appears to be near endless. With its latest system, Lowrance launches the HDS Pro line of multifunction displays, as well as increases the functionality of its side- and down-scan imaging and live sonar. The 1 kW-capable HDS Pro units also deliver full control of trolling motors, autopilots, engines, radar, communications and Power-Pole shallow-water anchors. The MFDs are available with 9-, 10-, 12- or 16-inch SolarMAX IPS HD touchscreens and cost $2,199 to $4,999. The ActiveTarget 2 Live Sonar module and transducer cost $1,649; the module alone costs $799, and the transducer alone costs $1,099. Active Imaging 3-in-1 transducers for Lowrance Ghost trolling motors or transoms cost $399 to $449.

Most Innovative for Fishing: Furuno TZtouch3 w/Chirp Side-Scan Technology

What the Judges Said: “Low-frequency side-scan sonar opens this more-traditional freshwater and inshore-­saltwater product category to offshore fishermen, enabling them to spot fish hundreds of feet away.” —Randy Vance, editor-at-large, Fishing and Marine Group

Side-scan sonar helps anglers see under docks and into submerged trees and weeds, right? Yes, but that’s not all it can do, and offshore fishermen have long wanted a piece of the action. With Furuno’s latest software update, TZtouch3 users can see structure and fish 750 feet or more off each side of their vessels. Cruisers too can leverage that to find a safe path through coral reefs. To reach that distance, Furuno scans the water at a lower frequency (220 to 240 kHz) than other side-scan sonar brands. While lower-frequency chirps don’t deliver the same crisp returns as higher-frequency transmissions, this new technology aids anglers hoping to find new bottom structure, and yachtsman and sailors hoping to avoid hazards. The software update is free; the transducer costs $900.

Best in Sonar: Garmin LiveScope XR

What the Judges Said: “Everyone likes a product that can address multiple tasks well, and Garmin’s LiveScope XR does just that. With a single transducer, the user has the ability to adjust the system to see forward, out to the sides or directly beneath a vessel’s hull.” —Patrick Sciacca, editor-in-chief, Yachting

Like side-scan sonar, live sonar initially catered to freshwater and inshore boaters and anglers. But with LiveScope XR, Garmin delivers real-time videolike sonar from lakes out to blue water. In fresh water, LiveScope XR can see up to 500 feet in front of or below the boat; in salt water, that range is 350 feet. The system offers image clarity at close and long ranges simultaneously. The LVS62 transducer can be pointed forward or down manually or turned sideways with the included Perspective Mode Mount. The system includes a GLS 10 black box that mounts beneath a console. With a free software update, the transducer (sold separately) can be added to an existing LiveScope black box. The full system costs $2,999.99; the LVS62 alone costs $2,499.99.

Best in Entertainment: Kicker KMXL

What the Judges Said: “Kicker is truly working hard to deliver great sound in the audio-unfriendly environment that is a boat.” —Kevin Falvey, editor-in-chief, Boating

Innovative was the adjective most commonly used by our judges to describe Kicker’s latest speakers. The company’s tangential center-cone geometry—also dubbed horn-loaded technology—makes waves among wakeboarders who use uber-powerful tower speakers to push sound to the cockpit and to the rider. But the new Kicker KMXL speakers deliver that same technology to every boater. Kicker says the new coaxials—in 6 ½- and 8-inch sizes as well as 6 by 9 inches—deliver increased performance with optimal sensitivity, power handling and sonic accuracy. The speakers cost $649.99 to $869.99 per pair.

The post Best Marine Electronics and Technology Awards 2023 appeared first on Yachting.

The year was 2015. I was with Dave Dunn, Garmin’s senior director of marine sales, aboard Capt. Mike Flowers’ SeaHunter 24 Ruff-n-Uff, slowly approaching Miami’s MacArthur Causeway. Flowers tapped his Garmin multifunction display, and it presented imagery from the Garmin Panoptix PS31 forward-looking sonar.

Dunn cast a lure and, moments later, a tarpon appeared. A dance unfurled, and the target wisely dodged a root canal.

Watching this episode on screen, I was gobsmacked by Panoptix’s LiveVu and RealVu perspectives, which combined information from the forward-looking transducer, multibeam sonar and phased-array technology to produce live, video-type imagery.

Mostly, I was amazed that ceramic bits could yield this kind of water-column awareness.

Darrell Lowrance helped introduce this technology to boaters in 1957 with his Fish-Lo-K-Tor, which provided depth information and detected objects in the water column. Products available today have far better capabilities and onscreen imagery than equipment from just a decade ago.

“Transducers are the key part of the fish finder’s performance: The frequency and power rating of the ceramic determines depth capabilities, coverage under the boat and the ability to see fish in the water column,” says Craig Cushman, Airmar Technology Corp.’s director of marketing. Transducers, he adds, rely on precision timing, much like radars. “The transducer sends acoustic energy throughout the water column and then listens for returning signals. The fish finder then interprets the echo to display what is below the boat.”

Like radars, transducers spend roughly 1 percent of their time transmitting and 99 percent listening for echoes. Transducers are seldom seen, but they take high-voltage electrical pulses (from their networked fish finder, multifunction display or sonar) and convert them to outgoing sound waves that propagate downward and outward in a cone-type shape. Today’s transducers are sensitive enough to discern echoes that are just a few hundredths of a single volt.

Transducers are built like nesting dolls but with piezoceramic elements at their cores. These ceramic elements are made from polarized barium titanate or lead zirconate titanate, look like metal, and can be fabricated into shapes of various complexity. A basic ceramic element might be shaped like a hockey puck, while a more sophisticated element might be formed into a bar, oval, ring or tube.

These ceramic elements are separated from the water on one side by an “acoustic window,” while the rest of the element is encased in a sound-absorbing material that helps direct the sound waves out of, and back through, the acoustically neutral window. The encapsulating material (typically urethane or epoxy) is then encased in the physical housing (usually bronze, molded plastic, stainless steel or urethane). Depending on the transducer, miniaturized printed circuit boards are sometimes embedded in the encapsulating layer that allows the fish finder to automatically adapt to the connected transducer. A pipestem houses electrically shielded cables that run from the yacht’s fish finder or multifunction display to the PCBs and elements.

“The ceramics inside can dramatically change the cost of a transducer,” says Jim McGowan, Raymarine’s Americas marketing manager.

Some entry-level transducers might employ a single piezoceramic element, while high-end transducers might involve 16 to 18 elements. Transducers can be manufactured to “resonate” at a specific frequency (say, 50 kHz), dual frequencies (50/200 kHz) or over a sweep of frequencies.

“You can only play so many songs with two keys on the piano,” Dunn says, adding that chirp transducers transmit over a sweep of frequencies, like having a music scale’s worth of notes, but in this case with better target separation and resolution as the result.

According to McGowan, a single-frequency transducer sounds like a ticking watch. “Chirp would sound like a police siren, increasing in pitch,” he says. “The first returns are the first transmissions, so the system has a reference, allowing it to overlap the original pulse with the echo, giving [onscreen] detail.”

Multibeam sonar systems typically employ an array of ceramic elements. These elements can be electronically steered by the transducer’s controlling microprocessors to ring at specific or sequenced times to scan the seafloor, or they can all ring simultaneously. Today’s multibeam and ultrawide-beam systems can also yield high-resolution information about what’s on each side of the keel (sometimes called side-scanning sonar) or, as Dunn and I saw in 2015, forward-looking imagery.

While McGowan says the sport-fishing crowd drives transducer development, the computer-electronics market enables innovation. “We have the advantage of components,” says Cushman, pointing to today’s dime-size PCBs. They’ve “become smaller and cheaper, which lets us put different things inside.”

As with all markets, there are high-end, mid-level and entry-level transducers. When it comes to the high end of the market, Airmar is the undisputed leader. While most of the bigger marine-electronics manufacturers make transducers in-house, they typically build less-complex, high-volume sounders—or, in some cases, highly specialized, high-end transducers (for example, Garmin builds its Panoptix transducers).

According to Cushman, Airmar manufactures roughly 80 to 90 percent of all transducers that operate on at least 600 watts of transmitting power. Airmar-built transducers are sometimes sold with an Airmar badge; other times, they carry third-party branding.

This relationship frees the Big Four (Furuno, Garmin, Navico and Raymarine) to innovate new fish-finding and sonar technologies and specifications, rather than developing transducers, and it allows Airmar to amass the capability and expertise to manufacture at scale and to high industrial standards.

Customers can order Airmar-built transducers that ship with plug-and-play cable connections, and owners can often use existing transducers with other third-party fish finders or multifunction displays. Airmar’s distribution company, Gemeco Marine Accessories, can help customers determine if an existing transducer will work with other equipment. If an existing transducer is compatible, Gemeco can provide the wiring diagram and splice kit to rewire it for use with a new fish finder. Changing out through-hull transducers, however, requires a haulout and a plan.

“Know what you want to do with the system,” McGowan says. “Transducers are fundamental to the performance of the system, and you get what you pay for.”

After all, without good acoustics, how else will you be able to spin a credible onscreen yarn about a big one that got away?

Fitting Considerations

Transducers can be hung from a transom-mounted bracket, or they can be in-hull or through-hull mounted. While each setup has its advantages, through-hulls are best for power cruising and sport fishing yachts. “Airmar has certified installers who have been trained on the best installation practices,” says Airmar’s Craig Cushman.

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July 2019: A pick-and-place machine delicately but quickly tattoos microchips onto printed circuit boards at Navico’s production facility in Ensenada, Mexico. The machine looks like a miniaturized rotary cannon, with a mission to complete upward of 10,000 boards per day for B&G, Lowrance and Simrad products.

Standing there, I couldn’t discern what brand of equipment each batch of boards was destined for. While this reflects the integral role the boards play in marine electronics, it also reflects how deeply integrated these previously independent brands have become since they merged under a single roof.

October 2021: Brunswick Corp. announces that it has completed the acquisition of Navico in a $1.05 billion deal—rolling B&G, Lowrance and Simrad into Brunswick’s Advanced Systems Group.

It’s yet another new day for these brands—and for the whole marine-electronics landscape. While B&G, Lowrance and Simrad have all previously experienced acquisitions and reorganizations, Brunswick’s acquisition is poised to usher in a new era of integration among marine electronics, systems and yachts while allowing the brands to continue evolving under their existing leadership.

Brunswick consists of more than 60 brands that conduct business in four market segments. The company, which was founded in 1845 to build billiard tables, has been steadily increasing its marine interests since 1960. Brunswick’s other acquisitions include Bayliner, Boston Whaler and Sea Ray, and its portfolio includes Mastervolt, CZone, C-Map, Protector and Mercury’s four propulsion brands.

The addition of Navico “was a strategic acquisition for Brunswick to support their ACES strategy, which is really the future of a truly integrated boat system,” says Knut Frostad, Navico’s CEO, referring to Brunswick’s plan for autonomy, connectivity, electrification and shared access. “It helps Brunswick evolve that strategy and was the missing piece in the puzzle to offer an integrated, bow-to-stern solution.”

The acquisition also brings the Navico brands closer to their marine-industry roots. “We’ve obviously been owned in the past by financial investors, who have a different objective,” says Frostad, an accomplished sailor who served on Navico’s board for 14 years before being named CEO in 2019. “Now we’re owned by someone really strategic who understands the business.”

Brunswick’s investment in Navico goes much deeper than shared cultures, he adds.

“Electronics is obviously having more and more tentacles around the boat and is integrating with more elements of the boat,” Frostad says. “We have the opportunity to offer an integrated solution—much quicker and much better—because now we’re under the same roof with companies that offer these products on the same boats.”

The sailing-focused B&G brand may initially seem like a strange bedfellow in a corporation with a predominantly power-focused portfolio; however, Frostad says Brunswick sees sailing as a growth area.

“We’re using B&G today to develop some very interesting technologies that can be used in other parts of the marine industry, such as autopilots, where [competitive] sailing is very, very advanced compared to powerboats,” he says.

Smart autonomous or semi-autonomous vessels may be coming in the future. But for now, B&G, Lowrance and Simrad brand identities will remain, and Navico-branded equipment will be spec’d on Brunswick-built boats if Navico offers the best technical solution. Otherwise, Brunswick-owned boatbuilders are free to spec third-party equipment.

One example of third-party partnerships is DockSense (see Yachting, June 2019), a collaboration among Raymarine, Boston Whaler and Mercury that delivered the world’s first integrated smart docking-assist product.

Frostad envisions a similar future for Navico. “It’s really about coming up with an offering that’s outstanding in the industry, that’s the right offering and the right product and the right services at the right time,” he says.

In addition to harboring shared aspirations for creating connected vessels, Brunswick and Navico share other core values too. “I’ve taken Navico on a sustainability journey that’s very ambitious and that goes very deep into what sustainable boating is in the future,” Frostad says. “Brunswick has really mirrored that strategy. … Now we have multiple touch points for the same customers. That enables us to have a bigger footprint on the boat, but we can also collaborate on offering a better service.”

Moving forward, B&G, Lowrance and Simrad customers can expect further integration of their electronics and the rest of their yacht in ways that are intended to make boating better, safer and more sustainable. Much like the factory-line integration that I witnessed in Ensenada, in time, boaters aren’t likely to know exactly where their equipment’s innovations stem from, only that these advances enhance the boating experience.

A Company is Born

The histories are rich: In 1947, Willy Christian Simonsen founded Simonsen Radio in Oslo, Norway. Simrad Yachting was purchased by the Kongsberg Group in 1996; in 2003, Simrad Yachting acquired B&G, the sailing-instrument manufacturer. In 2003, the Kongsberg Group sold Simrad Yachting to Altor Equity Partners, a Swedish private-equity firm. In 2005, Altor purchased Lowrance, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based firm. Navico was created in 2006 when Altor merged the three.

The post Brunswick Corp. Purchases Navico appeared first on Yachting.

Darrell Lowrance

Darrell Lowrance—who became an internationally recognized angler, boater and co-inventor of the world’s first recreational electronic fish finder—originated his path in the cockpit of his airplane. Legend has it that he was flying over Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees when he noticed that he could see fish in the clear waters. This experience inspired him to consider whether sonar, which had been employed to hunt submarines in wartime, might be leveraged to locate fish.

Lowrance joined forces with his father, Carl, and his brother, Arlen. In 1957, the trio introduced the first recreational sonar. It was dubbed the Fish Lo-K-Tor. On the docks, it was simply called the “little green box.” It could determine water depth and detect suspended objects in the water column.

By 1984, Lowrance Electronics had sold more than a million little green boxes. Other breakthroughs followed, including the first high-speed sonars, graph recorders and integrated sonar/GPS devices.

Darrell Lowrance served as president and CEO of Lowrance Electronics from 1964 to 2006, when Altor purchased the company and consolidated into Navico. Prior to this acquisition, Lowrance Electronics employed some 1,250 workers at its Tulsa, Oklahoma, headquarters and its factory in Ensenada, Mexico, where the company produced more than 90 products and accessories.

Lowrance retired in 2007. He and his wife, Kathleen, relocated to their homes in Plano, Texas, and Port Orange, Florida. Lowrance received the American Sportfishing Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007, and he was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2013. He died in 2019. “The world has lost a great man and a true visionary,” the CEO of Navico said.

Daniel Harper

In 2011, most people were just warming up to the idea that a few screen taps could elicit real-world changes (read: Nest thermostats). Daniel Harper, however, was ahead of the coming connected-boat curve. His experience as a professional captain had shown him that small onboard issues, if left unchecked, could snowball into emergencies. Examples include overflowing bilges and low battery levels, as well as onboard security and geofencing concerns.

Harper founded Siren Marine in 2011. The business introduced boaters and the marine industry to how an onboard network of sensors connected to a cellular modem could serve as a monitoring, tracking and control system. Siren Marine products began to notify boat owners about onboard issues or concerns via a wireless device and the Siren Marine app.

As the Internet of Things expanded, many boat owners began to leverage Siren Marine products to, for example, turn on HVAC systems, create masthead tricolors, and access other connected devices from afar. At the same time, Siren Marine’s monitoring and tracking products—including the Siren 3 Pro system released in 2020—provide owners with peace of mind about thefts and intrusions. The SirenSat offshore antenna allows owners to track their yachts via satellite communications when the vessel travels outside of cellular range.

Harper, who resided in Newport, Rhode Island, was a longtime sailor and regularly delivered Corban, his Swan 42, to and from the Caribbean, often singlehanded. Harper died in 2021, when the Siren Marine team acknowledged him as “a man who forged the future of the marine industry.” 

Freedom Boat Club

In 1975, John Bogle founded the Vanguard Group and created the first index fund for individual investors. It meant that even small- and medium-size investors could access funds with less risk than individual stocks, and with less cost than actively managed funds.

Freedom Boat Club—established in 1989—did something similar with boat ownership.

The idea is that instead of an individual shouldering the costs of a boat on his own, Freedom Boat Club members receive access to a fleet of locally appropriate boats at their franchise-owned locations. The club sells different membership plans, some of which include reciprocal agreements at other locations (there are more than 300 locations in the United States, Canada, Spain, the UK and France). The boats are used only by club members. Membership is open to anyone, and many memberships involve entire families.

Freedom Boat Club was sold to an investment group as the business began to flourish, and then John Giglio and Robert Daly, who had been involved on the investment side, purchased it in 2011. Giglio bought out Daly in 2012 and, as president, grew the club to more than 20,000 members before selling it in 2019 to Brunswick Corp., the parent company of Boston Whaler, Sea Ray, Mercury Marine and other leading marine brands.

Today, Freedom Boat Club is focusing on expansion in the Northeast United States, including New York and Connecticut.

Mark Richards 

Minimum drag, maximum lift. That’s how the GB Marine Group, led by Mark Richards, describes its V-Warp hull, which the company employs on Grand Banks, Palm Beach and Eastbay models. Richards founded Palm Beach Motor Yachts in 1995, and he first employed a V-Warp hull, which was inspired by US Navy and NASA research, on the 1998 Palm Beach 38.

The concept of minimum drag, maximum lift didn’t just come from the US government. Richards was born in 1967 in Australia, a nation whose history proudly includes the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. This legendary rough-and-tumble race takes the fleet down Australia’s east coast, across Bass Strait and up the River Derwent. Simple flying this isn’t: In 1998, five yachts sank and six sailors died.

In 2005, Australian businessman Bob Oatley launched Wild Oats XI, a 100-footer that Reichel/Pugh designed for minimum drag and maximum lift to dominate the race. Richards, the winning helmsman of the 2003 Admiral’s Cup, was named skipper.

The yacht won line honors (it was the first horse to the barn) nine times under Richards’ command. In 2012, it became the only yacht to win a second Sydney-Hobart treble: line honors, a corrected-time victory and a new course record.

In 2014, Grand Banks (the forerunner to GB Marine Group) acquired Palm Beach Motor Yachts. Richards was named CEO, and V-Warp hulls started appearing on Grand Banks and Eastbay builds. During testing last year, the new flagship Grand Banks 85 reportedly saw a range of 1,000 nautical miles at a fast cruising speed of 21 knots.

Richards said at the time: “We had one primary objective above all when we started the 85: to deliver the most fuel-efficient, high-speed, long-range cruiser of this size in the world.”

Leon Slikkers

In 1946, 18-year-old Leon Slikkers reported for his first day as a carpenter at the Chris-Craft factory in Holland, Michigan. Roughly a decade later, he sold his home to raise $5,000 and create the Slickcraft Boat Co. Slikkers also began testing composite and fiberglass construction processes. He sold the business to AMF in 1969 and remained president for five years.

While the sale agreement included a noncompete clause, its fine print didn’t mention sailboats. So, in 1974, Slikkers founded S2 Yachts. His factory employed forward-leaning practices, such as climate-controlled production facilities and the fitting out of interior sections while the hull was still in the mold, allowing for additional curing time.

When Slikkers was free of the noncompete clause, S2 introduced two brands: Tiara in 1976, building midsize sportboats, and Pursuit in 1978, producing rugged sport-fishing rides.

S2 built its last sloop in 1989 and sold Pursuit to Malibu Boats in 2018. Today, the company is called Tiara Yachts. It builds inboards from 39 to 53 feet and outboards from 34 to 48 feet.

In September, the company announced that Slikkers was retiring at age 93. S2 is now run by second- and third-generation members of the Slikkers family, who continue to build yachts in Holland, Michigan.

Thinking Green 

Boyan Slat is a 27-year-old Dutch inventor and entrepreneur. At age 18, he devised a system that harnessed ocean currents to collect plastics. In 2013, Slat dropped out of an aerospace engineering program to found the Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit that aims to rid the world’s oceans of 90 percent of floating plastics by 2040. The nonprofit uses tech-laden “vehicles” that gather debris, which is brought ashore and recycled.

The post Innovators Who Have Changed Boating for the Better appeared first on Yachting.

In Dr. No, the 1962 film based on Ian Fleming’s sixth novel about British spy James Bond, actor Desmond Llewelyn made the British secret-service armorer code-named “Q” famous. Q maintained the airs of a refined British butler while furnishing Agent 007 with innovative, stealthy and game-saving gadgets and weapons. All the bagpipe flamethrowers, cigarette darts and other inventions helped foster expectations for tradecraft devices that stretched the envelope.

If these expectations for constantly improving tech sound a bit like a computer geek’s enthusiasm for the latest operating-system update, you’re en route to understanding the Q Experience’s philosophy toward branded and white-label multifunction displays.

The first multifunction displays arrived in the mid-2000s, offering boaters the ability to control and display cartography and networked instrumentation on a single screen. As the technology matured and onboard networking improved, yachtsmen could soon overlay informational layers atop third-party applications (such as radar over cartography), control third-party instruments (including thermal-imaging cameras), collect and share bathymetric data, and in some cases, stream Netflix or control third-party drones.

Today’s marine marketplace has four established MFD manufacturers—Garmin, Furuno, Navico (parent company of Simrad and Lowrance) and Raymarine. The Q Experience, which draws its name from the Bond films, aspires to add its name to the list with from-the-ground-up hardware and a bespoke operating system that delivers integration, an automotive-style user interface, built-in entertainment, an anti-theft alarm, constant connectivity and a dedicated app.

Niklas Öhman and Johan Wessberg founded the Q Experience in Finland in 2015 following a conversation with a major European boatbuilder. The conversation unexpectedly veered toward MFDs, and the boatbuilders pondered how chart plotters might be done differently. Further conversations ensued, and Öhman and Wessberg agreed to create and build a ground-up MFD.

The result was the Q Display 1 series (Q1), which had a Linux-based operating system and was available in two screen sizes. Other features included two CAN buses, NMEA 2000 compatibility, radio, Bluetooth connectivity and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

“Our user interface’s logic is a mix between Apple’s iOS and Android. It shouldn’t take more than three screen taps to access any application,” says Öhman.

One small but telling example of the Q Experience’s smart user interface is the MFD’s menu page, says Patrik Gustafsson, the company’s product and sales manager. “If there’s no networked fish finder, you won’t see [one listed] in the menu,” he says.

Like other marine-electronics manufacturers, the Q Experience team uses automatic, over-the-air updates for software and operating systems. What’s different is the nature of the Q Experience’s updates. “Every year, [our customers] get a new plotter,” says Öhman, adding that the company releases updates during shoulder seasons, not midsummer. “If you look at our [user interface] from 2016 and now, they’re totally different.”

The Q Experience released its second-generation Q Display 2 series (Q2) in November 2020. It’s available in three screen sizes (10-inch, 16-inch and the double-wide 2-by-10-inch) and builds on the Q1’s capabilities. For example, while the Q2 has Q Experience software, N2K compatibility and optically bonded IPS screens, it also has a cleaner, more customizable user interface; faster (and dedicated) data and graphics processors; a more accurate GPS; two Ethernet ports; Navionics cartography; a built-in cellular modem; and a built-in amplifier for streaming music.

Q2 displays also use Q Experience’s mobile app, letting users monitor battery, bilge and fuel levels, receive warning messages from the boat, interact with the system’s built-in Q Boat Guard anti-theft alarm, and use an embedded N2K switch to control onboard systems via a mobile device. Q2 displays are always on, connected and gathering big data to share with the Q Experience and its partners, who refine the user experience.

Q2s are designed to operate much like automotive infotainment systems. “Navigation has to be easy, like in cars,” Gustafsson says, citing features such as the MFD’s dashboard, digital gauges and integrated (and customizable) widgets.

The Q2’s N2K switch gives users control of up to 20 networked devices; however, owners can add blocks (increments of 20), allowing operators to control more of their vessel using the Q mobile app. “We haven’t integrated with CZone or EmpirBus” digital-switching systems, he says. “We’ll keep our own switch for now.”

The Q mobile app also delivers vessel security via the Q2’s geofence-based Q Boat Guard anti-theft alarm, alerting owners if a boat escapes its slip. The system also allows users to watch their boat’s real-time use and share trip details with social media platforms.

The Q Experience has always sold Q1 displays as Q-branded products to consumers—or as OEM-level equipment to boatbuilders—and is following this same branded/white-label model with the Q2. “You don’t know the manufacturer of the display in [a] car because it’s a white-label product,” Öhman says. “We focus on branding [for] the boat’s manufacturer.”

The Q Experience has gained market interest, especially among Northern European boatbuilders. “In the Nordic countries, we have 35 to 40 percent of the [market] share of new boats,” Gustafsson says. “The volume is in powerboats, but I have one on my sailboat.”

While this is good news for the Q Experience, headwinds still exist for US customers. The Q2 employs an embedded cellular modem, which necessitates approval by the Federal Communications Commission. That approval is reportedly forthcoming, after which the Q Experience will need to establish US sales and support teams.

Still, if you like the idea of a Euro-built MFD that’s different from the other tech on your dock, check out the Q Experience. The eye-pleasing system might lack bagpipe flamethrowers and cigarette darts, but it includes the promise of a constantly evolving operating system and an ever-smoother user interface.  

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Lowrance has rolled out updated software for HDS Live, HDS Carbon and Elite FS fishfinders.

The updates include radar interface improvements and new features such as Dangerous Target Alert updates, as well as integration with SiriusXM Marine Fish Mapping for North America.

The radar interface improvements reportedly make it easier to view, track and monitor vessels, and identify vessels that may be a risk to the user’s course. New icons for the Automatic Identification System, and symbols for radar-tracked targets, can be combined into one unified view.

Other updates include integrations with the ITC Lighting Control Bar, Honda ECO Mode and IP Cam-1 marine video camera.

“This latest software update has brought even more clarity to our Lowrance interface with updated icons and clearer symbology to go with a more vivid display for the radar range rings,” Lucas Steward, executive vice president for Lowrance, stated in a press release.

Safety updates include Radar and AIS Target Association. When the radar and the AIS signal acquire the same target for tracking, the system will display the target with one symbol. This reduces the number of AIS symbols and radar targets on the Plan Position Indicator. Radar and AIS targets now display a graduated trail showing the vessel’s past position history for greater situational awareness.

What does the new Dangerous Target Alert do? It warns the skipper of dangerous radar and AIS targets, according to parameters in vessel settings and tracked targets. A simple diagram appears on the bottom left of a pop-up screen to show the range, graphical bearing and heading of the vessel in relation to the skipper’s vessel.

Where to learn more: go to lowrance.com

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Lowrance says all HDS Live displays that ship to consumers in June will be preloaded with C-Map’s Contour+ charts.

The high-resolution charts offer more detail and greater lake coverage than C-Map’s US Enhanced map that previously was included, according to Lowrance. Current HDS Live owners will have the option to purchase an HDS Live C-Map Contour+ chart card for a nominal fee.

Anyone who purchases an HDS Live display before August 1, 2020, can receive a free C-Map Contour+ map card via online rebate.

C-Map Contour+ charts cover inland and near-shore coastal areas of the continental United States, Hawaii and Bermuda. They have high-res bathymetric 1-foot contours, fishing points of interest, standard navigation data and custom depth shading.

The new cartography includes a more consistent presentation of data through all zoom levels, and improved icons for things like boat ramps and gas stations.

“We are constantly improving our product offerings to deliver a better on-the-water experience,” Knut Frostad, CEO of Navico, stated in a press release. “Our team has added an incredible amount of detail and streamlined the presentation in Contour+ charts. From finding the best spots to fish to knowing which lanes to run through vegetation, anglers will have an easier time finding the information they need for a successful day on the water.”

What’s the “nominal fee” for HDS Live owners who bought their displays before April 1 and want the upgrade? It’s $35.

For more information, visit: lowrance.com

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Mother nature has long dictated that all rivers don’t flow evenly. This imbalance also holds true for the marine market, where marine electronics represent a significantly deeper and faster-flowing tributary than, say, naval architecture. The speed with which helm and safety equipment evolve was especially apparent during recent boat shows, where the marine-electronics tents were filled with bright lights and brighter ideas.

One of the most talked-about offerings was Vesper Marine’s Cortex safety-and-communications platform. This system streamlines VHF radio operations and delivers automatic information system, cellular, digital selective calling and Wi-Fi communications to a smartphone app or dedicated handset. Better still, Cortex gives users prioritized “situation views” for managing AIS targets, anchor-watch alarms and man-overboard emergencies, as well as on- and off-vessel smart alarms.

Likewise, Raymarine has scored big headlines with its prototype DockSense technology, which works with a yacht’s drive systems to provide an automated docking experience. This past fall, Raymarine unveiled its commercially available DockSense Alert system, which consists of a Raymarine Axiom multifunction display; the DockSense Alert app; a black-box processor; and one ($6,000), three ($10,000) or five ($15,000) FLIR-built stereo cameras bundled with built-in attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) sensors, which eliminate vessel movement.

There’s also a separate Raymarine AHRS and GPS module. Once installed, DockSense Alert significantly increases situational awareness by creating a precise, nearly 540-square-foot map of a boat’s surroundings—giving users real-time sensor metrics—and constantly scanning each camera’s range for nonwater objects.

Speaking of FLIR, Raymarine’s parent company has five new M300-series cameras. These include the daylight-only M300C ($6,500), which delivers a 30x optical zoom and a 12x digital zoom; the M332 ($8,500) thermal-imaging camera, which uses a Boson 320 core to deliver 340-by-256 thermal-image resolution; and the M364 ($14,200), which employs a Boson 640 thermal core to yield a 640-by-512 resolution. Next up is the M364C ($20,500), which includes the M300C’s daylight camera and a Boson 640 thermal core; followed by FLIR’s M364C LR ($29,500), which has a Boson 640 thermal core, the M300C’s daylight camera, a narrower field of view and advanced software that yields longer-range imagery.

Garmin’s big news involves four GPSMap 86 handheld navigation devices. All four units have 1.5-inch-by-2.5-inch screens, 16 gigabytes of onboard storage and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. And all four models can stream real-time data from compatible Garmin-built MFDs. They can also remotely and wirelessly control a yacht’s compatible Garmin-built autopilot.

While all four handhelds provide significant navigation capabilities, not all GPSMap 86 handhelds are created equally. The GPSMap 86s ($400) comes with a base map and lets customers upgrade to Garmin’s optional BlueChart g3 cartography, while the GPSMap 86sc ($450) comes standard with this premium cartography pre-loaded. Garmin’s two top-end GPSMap 86 handhelds—the GPSMap 86i ($600) and the GPSMap 86sci ($650)—can send and receive satellite communications globally using Iridium’s Short Burst Data Service. The satcom feature provides the ability to send and receive two-way SOS communications and to access satellite weather forecasts. The GPSMap 86sci ships with Garmin’s BlueChart g3 cartography, while GPSMap 86i customers can buy this separately.

ACR Electronics introduced its Overboard Location Alert System transmitters, which are complemented by the SM-3 Automatic Buoy Marker Light. SM-3s ($130) are water-activated and self-righting, and they are designed to be thrown into the water after a man overboard, like a horseshoe life buoy. Once active, SM-3 lights provide 24-plus hours of continuous operation at 30 degrees Fahrenheit and are visible from 360 degrees for about 2 miles.

Onscreen visibility was on Simrad’s mind when it designed the Halo20 and Halo20+ pulse-compression radars, which come bundled in 20-inch radomes and weigh in at 11 pounds apiece. Both the Halo20 ($1,700) and the Halo20+ ($2,200) have Simrad’s InstantOn technology; four dedicated operating modes (bird, harbor, offshore and weather); dual-range capability; and the ability to track as many as 10 user-selected mini-automatic radar plotting aid (MARPA) targets at each range (20 targets total).

Both radars also deliver a range of 24 nautical miles, however, Simrad added extra processing power to the Halo20+. This boost comes in the form of Simrad’s VelocityTrack Doppler processing, which automatically color-codes targets based on the level of navigable danger they present. (While the Halo20+’s MARPA capabilities are limited to 10 user-selected targets per range, there’s no limit to the number of VelocityTrack targets it can track.) The Halo20+ also executes a 360-degree sweep once per second, and it spins at 60 rpm when examining ranges of up to 1.5 nautical miles. These latter attributes make the Halo20+ better at picking out fast-moving targets at close ranges.

Digital Yacht’s TriNav GPS160 position sensor uses a 72-channel GPS (United States), GLONASS (Russia) and Galileo (European Union) receiver to deliver position accuracy that’s typically within about 3 feet. The TriNav GPS160 ($190) updates at a user-selectable rate of up to 18 Hz (18 times per second), and it delivers accuracy by blending data from all three satellite systems—alternatively, users can opt to use data from just one particular system. The position sensor employs an anti-spoofing algorithm and is NMEA 0183-compatible, however, users also can buy versions compatible with NMEA 2000, USB, wireless and SeaTalk1.

Finally, because yachts are complex creatures, Blue Sea Systems’ M2 Vessel Systems Monitor promises to simplify the task of monitoring some of the complexity. The M2 VSM ($410) scrutinizes a vessel’s AC and DC electrical systems, and bilge and tank levels, while delivering NMEA 2000 compatibility. The tidy-size M2 VSM employs an OLED screen, and it provides comprehensive systems alarms such as high and low voltage, and high and low bilge and tank levels.

New Electronics

Lowrance’s PSI-1 sonar module delivers LiveSight Sonar capabilities to HDS Carbon multifunction displays (with a separate LiveSight transducer). LiveSight Sonar allows for traditional-view and real-time sonar, with the latter creating a videolike experience that can show fish striking lures. PSI-1 ($300) modules can be networked directly to HDS Carbon MFDs by way of sonar ports and Ethernet connections. Check it out, at lowrance.com.

Sirius Signal’s electronic visual distress-signal devices include the Bluetooth-enabled, dual-color C-1002 ($290 with app) and C-1003 ($90), both of which use LED bulbs. The C-1002 has a heat sink that allows it to deliver the same output as a 20-watt conventional light without overheating, while the C-1003 meets the US Coast Guard’s standards for night, day and audible distress signals. Check it out, at siriussignal.com.

Lumishore’s line of marine-grade Lux LED lighting solutions ($30 to $245) is designed to work with DC-power systems to deliver the right ambience. Lux lights are color-tunable and include down lights, courtesy lights, strip lights and Neon Flex lights that can be controlled by most third-party multifunction displays, Lumishore’s touchscreen display or switches, or via a wireless device and Lumishore’s app. Check it out, at lumishore.com.

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Navico, the parent company of Lowrance, Simrad, B&G and C-Map, has launched the WM-4 Marine Satellite Receiver for SiriusXM weather and audio.

The WM-4 replaces the company’s WM-3 Marine Satellite Receiver. It delivers weather and fishing information to Lowrance HDS Live and HDS Carbon, Simrad NSS evo3 and NSO evo3, and B&G Zeus3 and Zeus3 Glass Helm systems.

With the WM-4 and a subscription to SiriusXM Marine Satellite Weather or Fish Mapping, boaters can view weather and fishing data on top of a chart on compatible multifunction displays. The WM-4 offers access to more than 140 SiriusXM radio channels at a discount, when an audio subscription is added to a weather subscription.

The new module requires one of four subscription packages: inland, coastal, offshore or fish mapping.

“We are thrilled to partner with SiriusXM to add powerful functionality to our line of multifunction displays,” Knut Frostad, president and CEO of Navico, stated in a press release. “Whether you are embarking on a long sailing passage or entered in a high-stakes fishing tournament, the WM-4 Satellite Weather Receiver provides the information you need.”

For more information, visit: lowrance.com, simrad-yachting.com, bandg.com or c-map.com

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