NMEA names 2019 award winners

A new award was presented for a manufacturer that introduces a product at the conference.

By Trade Only Today Editors

September 27, 2019

The National Marine Electronics Association named its 2019 award recipients at the NMEA/RTCM Marine Electronics Conference and Expo held last week in Portsmouth, Va.

A total of 18 products received top honors in three award competitions: NMEA Product of Excellence Awards and Manufacturer of the Year (voted on by NMEA membership), the NMEA Technology Award and, new this year, the Best New Product Award for manufacturers that introduce new products at the conference.

“On behalf of the NMEA board of directors, staff and membership body, we congratulate all 2019 award winners,” NMEA president and executive director Mark Reedenauer said in a statement. “The entrant count for the Best New Product Award exceeded our expectations, which sends the message that there is extreme value for manufacturers to introduce new products at the NMEA Conference, where only the trade can view these new innovations.”

The Best New Product Award went to Vesper Marine for Cortex, the first marine VHF with wireless touchscreen handsets, a built-in Class B smart AIS transponder and remote vessel monitoring, according to the NMEA.

Raymarine/FLIR’S ClearCruise AR was chosen as the NMEA Technology Award recipient out of a pool of 11 entrants.

“ClearCruise AR is an industry-first technology that combines augmented reality and advanced image stabilization to help boaters make smarter and faster navigation decisions by placing visual overlays of nav aids, AIS traffic and destination waypoints on Raymarine Axiom multifunction displays,” the judges said. “The overlays identify nearby AIS-equipped vessels with color-coding to warn of traffic that could pose threats. At the heart of the system is a blending of high-definition digital or thermal video from networked Raymarine or FLIR marine cameras and dynamic graphics.”

Garmin won the Manufacturer of the Year Award for the fifth consecutive year.

NMEA also presented Product of Excellence Awards in 16 categories: