Josh Slayton is a product specialist at Scout Boats. He’s been with the company for 10 years. His responsibilities include conducting an in-person tutorial when a boat larger than 40 feet is delivered to a customer. “While we sell a feature-rich boat, we don’t want the customer standing at the helm pushing a bunch of buttons to use it,” Slayton says. “We want the customer to hit a couple buttons and go boating.”
A joystick can make operating a boat feel like playing a video game. With a touch-screen multifunction display, a captain can mimic the fictional Iron Man’s alter ego, Tony Stark, calling up a diagram of the lighting system and swiping until the correct brightness level is set. When a boat owner gets an alert on a smartphone that a vessel moored hundreds of miles away has been
unexpectedly removed from its slip, the owner can call authorities to notify them that it was stolen.
Courtesy MercuryMercury and Yamaha have partnered with bow thruster manufacturers to integrate control of accessories into their operating systems. Digital switching lets a boatbuilder program everything from climate to lighting to battery charging at one screen. Security systems can monitor a boat’s location and send alerts for movement and high water levels, and can be programmed to fill a cabin with smoke if a thief is detected. Thanks to integrated systems, operating a boat, managing its on-board functions and keeping it secure from almost anywhere are now, or soon will be, a reality.
Scout was one of the first builders to implement digital switching. About 10 years ago, the company used a system from CZone that allows the control of myriad functions from a single screen at the helm, or from a tablet in a stateroom. Today, the technology has worked its way down to Scout’s 21-foot models. A screen at the helm has an image of the boat that shows the navigation and spreader lights, live well and other items. Users touch the screen to have control over a given accessory.
“When owners shut off their boats, each of those guys leaves different systems running,” Slayton says. For instance, if the boat is kept on a lift, the air conditioning needs to be shut off because it needs to take in cooling water when it’s running. If the boat is in rack storage, most accessories need to be shut down because they can’t be plugged in to recharge.
“You can set up patterns of use like that with the CZone system and make it easy for the customer to hit one button and know he or she is leaving the boat the way it’s supposed to be,” Slayton says.
Courtesy GOSTWhile analog switching is hardwired with individual circuit breakers or fuses, the heart of digital operation is an NMEA 2000 network or, eventually, the new OneNet platform that accessories plug into. Then those functions can be controlled by a single multifunction display at the helm. Theoretically, a builder should be able to rig a boat more easily and save space at the helm because the system eliminates the need for a switch for every function on a boat. “With digital switching, all those modules or devices can communicate with each other,” says Warren Wright, digital switching product manager for Navico Group, which includes CZone.
In addition to turning things on and off, the network can integrate monitors for voltage, fluid levels, temperatures and more. “We can program in that if a tank level goes low or battery voltage drops, we can send a command to the generator to turn on, triggering things earlier before issues happen,” Wright says.
At the helm, digital switching lets a manufacturer present a layout that’s easier to follow. Individual gauges and monitoring screens can be eliminated, and equipment icons can be pulled up on a multifunction display. “When you’re talking about multiple stations, the wiring between lighting and switching is prone to failure,” Wright says. “With digital switching, you have an output module, and you’ve got keypad modules with a single network cable.”
Even with digital switching, most manufacturers have about 10 conventional buttons or switches at the dash for redundancy. “At every helm, we have our ‘gotta have it’ buttons,” Slayton says. “You don’t want to be going through an MFD trying to find where the horn is when you need to blow the horn.”
Some buttons remain close to what they’re operating because the location makes more sense. Scout uses an electric lift to raise and lower the bow table on its boats. There’s no need to have that function programmed into the multifunction display at the helm. Instead, the switch is in the gunwale. “Down in the cabin, you have an accent light or a bathroom light — you have your local switch right there,” Slayton says. With digital integration, that switch can be integrated into a function called “night cruising mode” that controls all the lights with one setting.
Courtesy VetusPrimarily, Scout works with Garmin for displays, but Furuno and Navico are integrating with many equipment providers, too. Vendors such as Lumishore for lighting, Seakeeper for stabilization and most generator manufacturers have integrated with Garmin, so everything can be controlled from one screen.
Next-Generation Power
On its 37-foot offerings, Scout has started using Brunswick’s Fathom e-Power, an auxiliary power management package that can replace a traditional generator for supplying electricity. It’s made up of components from companies in the Navico Group, including RELiON and Mastervolt lithium-ion batteries, Blue Sea Systems battery switching, CZone digital switching and Simrad displays. “We offer a range of scalable solutions, from compact setups for basic electronics to powerful systems that replace generators entirely,” says Kate Winer, senior manager of integrated and power systems for Navico Group.
The Fathom e-Power M3000 series is for boaters who want to run a few electric accessories and monitor power levels. The M5000 is for boats with more appliances and limited space, and is intended to supply enough power to replace a small generator. The M7000 is designed to replace a larger generator.
Fathom e-Power is intended for new boats but can be retrofitted into existing models. “We have seen early adoption in larger vessels, but as the technology progresses and users desire additional electronics and creature comforts on board, it will continue to push down to smaller vessels,” Winer says. “Smaller systems provide more options for upgradability and retrofitting.”
To manage the potential of overheating lithium batteries, Winer says, Fathom e-Power has a battery management system that disconnects the battery from use if it reaches a specific temperature.
Thrusting Forward
Another area of development in vessel control is integrating bow thrusters into helm joystick systems. Vetus and Sleipner have developed brushless motors for their thrusters, making the units more complementary for use in integrated systems.
Chris DeBoy, president of Vetus/Maxwell U.S. operations, says thruster integration started on larger yachts with Cummins diesels and Glendinning joystick controls about 10 years ago. In 2018, Vetus introduced the Bow Pro proportional thruster, which uses brushless technology in its motors. Motors with brushes can cause a motor to overheat, resulting in power loss or a total shutdown. The newer motors operate at a lower voltage and have a controller that converts DC to AC power. “It could heat up, but our motor controller can monitor the temperatures and adjust the power to get it to a plateau where it can continuously run,” DeBoy says.
About three years ago, Mercury started integrating Vetus thrusters into its Joystick Piloting for Outboards. The addition launched for consumers with the next-generation digital controls that paired with the 600-hp V-12 outboard. “Outboard guys said, ‘We don’t need a thruster. It has been working fine,’” DeBoy says. “As the boats have grown, there’s more bow out in front of them.”
With Joystick Piloting for Outboards, thruster integration is available for applications from two to six engines. Mercury based the system on the NMEA 2000 platform. Yamaha created a gateway into Vetus’ CAN bus system, V-Can, when it integrated thrusters into Helm Master EX for 2024. With the CAN bus system, Yamaha has more control over thrust levels and direction, plus engine temperature and voltage.
Thruster integration is available for singles through quints, and Yamaha has partnered with Sleipner as well as Vetus. “We’re getting a lot of interest about it from our builders,” says Lucy Berg, senior product specialist for the Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit. “We’re not in the bow thruster business, but we’re in the collaboration business, so we’re making sure our customers have the most options for their builds.”
Helm Master EX is scalable, and the package with the highest level of control is called Full Maneuverability. It includes integrating the bow thruster into the joystick. The most interest is in single-engine applications, perhaps because most skippers think they can move a boat where they want it to go with two or more outboards.
For boatbuilders and dealers, integrating more control potentially means being able to sell a bigger, more profitable boat. Having the thruster work with outboards provides more control for the autopilot and fishing functions, such as Set Point.
Berg says that when she talks to charter captains, the added control with Helm Master EX brings the potential to land more fish. “You can pay more attention to your passengers and customers if you’re a captain,” Berg says.
Managing Complexity
Large boats typically mean more complexity and a need to manage many on-board systems. Germany’s Böning has been providing management packages for companies such as Fleming Yachts, and for commercial and military vessels. “It’s confusing for people to distinguish between a digital-switching system and a vessel-monitoring and operating system,” says Luiz Barbarini, managing director of Böning USA. “We provide the customers a unified interface for the whole vessel.”
Böning offers digital switching, then adds an interface with such equipment as cable retractors, cameras, watermakers, refrigerators and air conditioners. “There is a need for a system to unify all these controls and systems in one place,” Barbarini says. Böning’s highest level is called Integrated Bridge because it adds navigation. Böning provides its own screen for vessel management, or it can be integrated into multifunction displays at the helm. “You have the flexibility of having all navigation on all the screens at the same time, and the cameras on all the screens at the same time,” Barbarini says.
For redundancy, most individual accessory controls are hidden near the dash. For example, the stock windshield wiper control on a Hatteras 90 is mounted under the dash. There’s still a horn button and a joystick for a bow thruster. “We never create a single point of failure,” Barbarini says. “The integrated helm is a higher level of user interface.”
While NMEA 2000 has become the network of choice, not every component is compliant, so Böning will develop alternative communication protocols. Barbarini says the majority of Böning’s business is retrofits because its vessel monitoring started in the early 2000s. “They had PCs with Windows, and now the boats are 20 years old and the system is outdated,” Barbarini says. “When we update, we don’t do the whole system; we just update the PCs. One trend is that you’re going into more big screens, and they expect that the vessel monitoring is part of or at least interfaces with MFD screens.” Böning also offers remote monitoring through a smartphone app.
Just Plug It In
Making integration available to a wider audience is the goal of Airmar’s SmartBoat module. It’s basically a black box that plugs into an NMEA 2000 network and can integrate most functions of a boat to operate, or to monitor them. “We can take many different sensor types and protocols into our module,” says Kris Pokraka, SmartFlex product line sales engineer at Airmar.
SmartBoat can connect with older network signals, such as 1708 or 1587, and convert them to NMEA 2000 so equipment can be seen on a modern multifunction display. “A lot of people want to get rid of gauges, and they want to go with a nice glass helm,” Pokraka says. “We can convert all that data and put it all up on your network.”
Depending on the number of components in a given application, SmartBoat modules can be linked. They don’t need to be connected to 12-volt power because they power up as soon as they connect to the network. The modules have four sensor inputs along with built-in relays that allow automated functions such as pumping fuel from a reserve tank to the main when levels reach a programmed number. Pokraka says SmartBoat is agnostic and designed to work with almost any component on a boat. The system doesn’t handle cameras yet.
SmartBoat has been popular as a replacement for ISIS and other programmable logic controller-based vessel monitoring systems. One new available component is Airmar’s diesel flow meters that can handle flow rates of 0.2 to 1,100 gallons per hour. They plug into the secondary connection on the SmartBoat module. Within minutes, the captain can see the flow rate at the helm.
Suggested retail price for the SmartBoat module starts at about $700. Airmar isn’t planning to offer its own screens, and will instead integrate with major electronics providers on the NMEA 2000 network. “For our installers, the biggest thing is how easy it is to set up and install our product,” Pokraka says.
The module measures about 6 inches long and 3½ inches wide. It secures in an out of the way place, and a dealer can train technicians to program a basic system in about a day, Pokraka says. Data is stored in a logger, and there’s a USB plug on the module so it can be retrieved for maintenance and service information. Airmar is also developing a backup to the cloud.
Safe Anywhere
Yet another type of system maintains a vessel’s security. Global Ocean Security Technologies, also known as GOST, was founded 19 years ago by Brian Kane, who is also the company’s chief technology officer. He estimates that the company has had about 8,000 clients.
Recently, the company saved a boat for a captain for the second time in 12 years. “They had stolen the boat, and they were going to load it with a bunch of people and run it to shore,” Kane says. GOST alerted authorities, who recovered the boat.
The company can integrate with most monitoring systems on the market. One of Kane’s favorite features is the ability to tie into FLIR security cameras through the GOST XVR setup. “Our client can get a push notification and see exactly what’s going on with his or her boat because he or she just got an alert of a motion area from our system,” Kane says.
On one boat, electronics thieves in Miami were caught on camera, and the video went viral on local news stations. The videos are recorded to a hard disk locally and stored in the cloud. Kane can pull the previous 500 events from the panel, and the videos are admissible in court.
A remote app lets a boat owner keep an eye on the engine compartment via a camera. FLIR’s AX8 camera can see hot spots on an engine. “You can see if a cylinder is going to blow before it happens,” Kane says.
GOST uses the Inmarsat satellite network for global monitoring. Kane says this is a key element that sets apart his company. “When we first got into it, it was explaining to the insurance companies the difference between cellular tracking and satellite tracking,” Kane says. “Boats go offshore, and you want to know where it is when it’s 100 miles offshore. We have fed our information to the Coast Guard, and they’ve done interdictions offshore using our tracking systems.”
While other systems integrate with NMEA 2000, GOST doesn’t. “We like having security as a separate web on the boat,” Kane says. He doesn’t want to be on a network where a third party might be able to access his programming.
GOST offers two plans, one with full video capability and another that tracks the vessel. The most popular package is Evolution IDP Security and Monitoring at a cost of about $5,000 for the equipment. The subscription is $30 per month.
Even if the equipment is on board, it needs to be turned on to provide the security that GOST is offering. Insurance companies won’t honor a claim if it’s discovered that the system wasn’t powered up when the boat or equipment was stolen. The system can be armed with a remote app, and a smartphone or tablet can be used to adjust things such as a geofence distance. GOST has developed a website for tracking every client, anywhere in the world.
With outboards getting more sophisticated, GOST has come up with two-piece magnetic sensors that alert an owner if the cowling has been removed. Kane came up with the idea after customers reported their engine control units being stolen. GOST also offers what it calls “sleep and stay” functions, which are popular with cruising sailors. “If a certain sensor goes off on the perimeter, the owner can pull it up on a screen in their stateroom and see what made that bump,” Kane says. Available bad-guy deterrents include a cloaking system that fills the boat with blinding fog and locks down the boat, and pepper-spray launchers.
It’s all part of boats continuing to become more complex, and people demanding more from the systems used to operate, manage and secure them. “We can continue to lead the integration and design front and present our customers with a product that matches what they use in their everyday life, from their houses to their cars or their phones,” Slayton says.
This article was originally published in the May 2024 issue.
