Imagine ripping along at 25 to 30 knots in the dark, in a big seaway, singlehanded aboard a 60-foot offshore racing sailboat in the nonstop around-the-world Vendée Globe race. Land and help are hundreds of miles away. Sleep is one of your most valuable currencies, but commercial vessels, fishing boats and whales also transit these waters. Trusting the big-ocean theory while you get some shut-eye can be risky business.

Optical-based collision-avoidance systems are a solution to this problem. One example is Sea.AI (née Oscar), which was developed in 2018 to help keep these kinds of sailors safe. Flash-forward seven years, and this type of technology is protecting boaters of all stripes, with numerous brands on the market and companies competing to advance the systems in various ways.

Optical-based collision-avoidance tech is an offshoot of automotive-based, advanced driver-assistance systems. This technology is quickly becoming an invaluable safety net, alongside radar and the automatic identification system, aboard well-equipped yachts. Elements of this technology are also critical for enabling assisted and autonomous docking and navigation systems. Contemporary systems alert captains of potential collision threats, with AI’s evolutionary curve suggesting more to come. Much like a car’s ADAS, this tech could soon also be standard kit aboard boats.

Most optical-based collision-avoidance systems have one or more cameras, an AI-enabled black-box processor and a display. Systems can include a daylight camera with low-light capabilities or a thermal-imaging camera, or both. The processor typically contains a library of annotated images that depict, for example, a vessel at sunset, a buoy in waves or a partially submerged container. The screen, which can be dedicated glass or a networked multifunction display, presents visual and audible alarms and real-time video imagery of any camera-captured targets.

The camera’s video is fed through the processor using AI computer vision and machine learning. It essentially lets the processor “see” through the camera. The processor then compares the camera’s real-time video feed with its imagery database, or it uses its knowledge of how to identify targets based on its annotated imagery database to identify nonwater objects in the camera’s field of view—a sailboat in the fog, for example.

“Our database contains more than 20 million objects in different scenarios, like sea states, weather conditions, geographic locations,” says Christian Rankl, Sea.AI’s chief technical officer. “It’s key to have a database with a wide range of objects and scenarios to build a highly reliable collision-avoidance system.”

Once the system has identified an object, it tracks it and calculates the real-time distance and bearing to the object, as well as a safe course (depicted on the display) around it.

The math isn’t trivial, says Sangwon Shin, vice president of recreational marine for Avikus, a subsidiary of HD Hyundai that specializes in autonomous navigation: “The hardest part about creating a collision-avoidance system is calculating the distance.” Factors include the boat’s pitch and roll, plus the marine environment’s diverse conditions. A boat’s distance from an object and its velocity also factor into calculating an avoidance path.

This all unfurls almost instantaneously with Avikus’ Neuboat Navi system. “It takes about 20 to 30 milliseconds,” Shin says about the time frame required to identify an object. The system, which uses an electro-optical camera and a lidar sensor to measure distance, recalculates this 10 times per second to ensure accuracy. “Sending the alarm to the boaters takes about 100 to 200 milliseconds,” Shin adds.

Other systems also offer processing times that are lightning-fast. Phil Bourque, Sea Machines’ vice president of global sales, says his company’s AI-ris system has latency of less than 0.25 seconds at full 4K resolution. “So, it does a lot of thinking very quickly.”

But speed is only one necessary component of these systems. They also have to minimize false alarms. Rankl says Sea.AI continuously refines its AI model by analyzing scenarios where it performed poorly. “It’s crucial for the AI to accurately distinguish real threats from benign objects.”

Sensor payload is another area where evolution is occurring, beyond hardware, software and AI models.

“While optical and thermal sensors are highly effective in detecting various floating objects, they, like all sensors, have limitations,” Rankl says, noting that these limitations could be addressed by integrating radar, AIS, lidar and sonar. “Our research department is actively evaluating the value these sensors can provide to our customers and how they can further enhance their safety at sea.”

Bourque agrees, noting that Sea Machines is working to integrate AIS and radar into AI-ris. “We certainly see the demand for the fusion of computer vision, radar and AIS,” he says.

Another important integration involves displayed cartography and data overlays. Anyone who cruises with radar and AIS is familiar with how multifunction displays can overlay AIS targets and radar data atop vector cartography. To that end, Sea.AI recently partnered with TimeZero to display targets detected by Sea.AI’s Sentry system atop TimeZero’s TZ Professional navigation software. “We are actively working toward integrating our machine vision with other platforms as well,” Rankl says.

Sea.AI isn’t alone in this thinking. Avikus’ Neuboat Navi presents camera-detected targets in its real-time head-up display, and Sea Machines’ SM300 autonomous command and control system displays camera-detected targets atop cartography.

The trick, of course, will be getting optically detected targets onto mainstream multifunction displays, but multiple sources say this is already in the works.

Accurately assessing the future of optical-based collision-avoidance systems is a tougher ask.

Bourque says the next five years should see these systems mature and progress—much like the ADAS performance curve. He also says today’s refit customers will want this technology to come factory-installed aboard their next yachts, necessitating that designers and builders allocate physical space for these systems.

In addition, Rankl says, optical-based collision-avoidance technology will become a standard feature on boats, akin to radar and AIS. He sees low-Earth-orbit satellites such as Starlink playing a big role with their fast, global connectivity.

“This will enable the development of large vision models specialized for maritime use,” he says. Rankl also predicts that the rise of AI spatial intelligence, which allows AI models to understand and interact with geographic information, will let collision-avoidance systems better predict the movements of detected targets based on their positions and trajectories.

“Over the next five to 10 years, we expect multimodal systems that integrate data from all available boat sensors—cameras, radars, AIS, etc.—into a unified AI acting as a 24/7 co-skipper,” Rankl says.

Shin agrees but is more bullish about the time frame, which he puts at three to five years. “This technology will be developed in a way that combines multiple sensors and provides more accurate information,” he says. In five to 10 years, he adds, a single piece of hardware will provide “all the necessary data for collision avoidance.” As far as autonomous docking and navigation, Shin says: “We do not aim only to give situational awareness and provide suggested collision-avoidance routing. Our ultimate goal is to provide [an] autonomous system for boats, which is only possible with accurate distance calculation.”

Sea Machines is also integrating its optical-based collision-avoidance system with autopilot and engine controls to enable autonomous decision-making. Sea.AI is exploring options and applications for its technology.

As with all technologies, optical-based collision-avoidance systems aren’t without their high and low tides. On the positive side, these stand-alone systems add significant safety margins and don’t rely on signals transmitted from other vessels. Conversely, all technologies add cost and complexity, and false alarms can trigger unnecessary stress.

While today’s optical-based collision-avoidance systems offer a sea-change advancement over trusting the big-ocean theory, it will be fascinating to see what future directions the technology takes. Either way, there’s no question that technology which began as specialized equipment for racing sailors is already having a massive impact on the wider boating world.

Evading Other Emergencies

In addition to spotting potential collision targets, optical-based detection systems can be used to locate and track a crewmember who has fallen overboard. Since these systems don’t rely on incoming AIS signals or radar returns, they can be key for detecting, identifying and tracking possible piracy threats.

Nautical Nightmare

A crewmember overboard is one of every captain’s worst fears, but the same camera systems that can help avoid collisions can be used to locate crewmembers in distress.

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In seventh grade, Matthew Zimmerman dreamed of playing in the rock band Metallica. He picked up an electric bass, and by high school, he was playing upright bass. In college, he joined the University of Rhode Island’s jazz band and his professor’s house band—experiences with steep learning curves. Zimmerman was on the six-year plan, “adding majors.” He graduated with bachelor’s degrees in French and German, another bachelor’s in ocean engineering, and several key relationships.

“There’s lots of connections between engineering students and music,” he says, referring to the mathematics of music. “You don’t notice a great bass player unless they mess up. Obstacle avoidance is like that: Best case, you avoid catastrophe.”

His path to becoming FarSounder’s co-founder and CEO took root during those college years, when he began working with Jim Miller, a professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering. A graduate student had been working with Miller on a three-dimensional forward-looking sonar project. When that student left, Zimmerman took over. The project earned some publicity, and they got a call from an oil company.

“I either had to find a job or turn the FLS project into my job,” Zimmerman says while sitting at the conference table in FarSounder’s Warwick, Rhode Island, headquarters. Their technology wasn’t a good fit for slow-turning oil tankers, but the call inspired confidence. “Our motivation was to help mariners avoid hitting whales and rocks.”

Zimmerman and Miller formed FarSounder in 2001 using private funding from family, friends and angel investors. Miller kept his position at the university and joined FarSounder’s board of directors. Given that Zimmerman was 24 and more interested in developing sensor technology than in business operations, the company hired—and then fired—a CEO. Enter Cheryl Zimmerman, Matthew’s mother. She had helped form the company, and her business experience made her an ideal replacement as FarSounder’s CEO.

“I didn’t see my mom at work,” Zimmerman says. “I saw Cheryl.”

Unlike sonars that detect fish, FarSounder’s 3D FLS technology was designed to help owners wend past icebergs and coral heads and dodge whales, all while creating their own high-resolution seafloor charts. FarSounder landed its first sale in 2004 and shipped its first product in 2005. “Our first customers were cruise ships and large yachts,” Zimmerman says. The company was also awarded several small-business innovation research grants that enabled years of research and development, and it earned its first (of eight) patents in 2006.

“In 2008 and 2009, we transitioned from R&D work to being a commercial company,” Zimmerman says. “We had around 15 employees at our largest.” This includes Matthew Coolidge, director of hardware development, and Evan Lapisky, director of software engineering, who have both worked at FarSounder since 2002. Zimmerman met them in the university’s jazz band. “Music is acoustics,” he says.

The pandemic brought FarSounder’s first major business headwinds, as supply chains became sticky. The company then moved to semi-remote operations and reconfigured some designs, which got it through the crux.

Listen: Virtual Q&A: FarSounder Argos 350 Forward-Looking Sonar

Things began to settle down, and Matthew Zimmerman took over as CEO in May 2022, a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine. Successive waves of sanctions were imposed, and the company’s second serious business challenge in two years arrived. Oligarchs, after all, adore their superyachts.

Today, the company is still plowing forward. I also spent time with Zimmerman at Wickford Shipyard’s marina. We carried heavy cases down to Cap’n Bert, a 53-foot research vessel owned and operated by the university. Our first stop was the bridge, where we met Capt. Stephen Barber. We were joined by Lapisky and Heath Henley, FarSounder’s senior application engineer (and a guitar player).

The FarSounder team unpacked an Argos 500 (see sidebar) and pole-mounted its transceiver onto Cap’n Bert’s bow. Then we headed out toward Narragansett Bay and the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge. I had a great view of a laptop running a split-screen view, with two-thirds of the monitor displaying FarSounder’s 3D FLS imagery, and the other third displaying top-down FLS imagery and automatic identification system data layered atop National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cartography.

Impressively, the Argos 500 also creates and stores a high-resolution local history map of the ground covered. “When you see something that doesn’t correlate with the chart, that’s what you want to pay attention to,” Zimmerman says.

The local history map looked exactly like how I imagine the seafloor would appear to a scuba diver. As we approached the Jamestown Bridge, I stared at the screen. The working pilings were visible, as were a set of parallel footings. “That’s the old Jamestown Bridge,” Zimmerman says. This latter span was demolished in 2006, and the Argos 500 painted a detailed view of its remnants in customizable colors.

Ahead, a fast ride ripped a white streak through Narragansett Bay’s blue waters. Zimmerman asked Barber to head toward the wake. As we approached, the Argos 500’s range decreased to a few boatlengths.

“Air bubbles are really good acoustic reflectors,” Zimmerman says. “They block the acoustic energy from going to the other side.”

As we cleared the wake, the system’s normal range resumed.

“We’re a software company that makes really big dongles,” Zimmerman told me later, back at the company’s headquarters. “Software makes it possible, but hardware makes it feasible.”

Zimmerman led me to FarSounder’s testing lab and nearby assembly room. “We do all assembly and testing in-house,” he says, adding that FarSounder uses off-the-shelf components whenever possible. Other parts, including the transducers’ piezoelectric ceramics, are manufactured to FarSounder’s specs by third parties—often between larger-volume jobs for other clients. “All components are made in the USA,” he says. “This helps us control quality.” Vendors often warehouse completed components, allowing FarSounder to practice just-in-time manufacturing.

A testing room has a large water tank with a submerged calibrated hydrophone. A hoist lowers FarSounder transceivers into the water, and the hydrophone broadcasts a known frequency sequence to the transducer. Zimmerman points to a monitor that displays the results from 3,600 angles tested simultaneously. “We correct for variance on an individual level,” he says.

Listening to Zimmerman talk about acoustics testing is a reminder that, while he’s mastered 3D FLS sensors, music is his native language.

Coolidge, who designs FarSounder’s electrical components, says the company has made a lot of upgrades to reduce assembly time since the pandemic-era slowdowns. These changes also added future-proofing, but even still, navigating past the Russia sanctions required different thinking. Prior to 2022, Russian ownership accounted for roughly 20 percent to 50 percent of the world’s largest superyachts. Once the sanctions hit, “everything stopped,” Zimmerman says.

The workaround involved adjusting FarSounder’s sales strategy. One green shoot has been the unmanned-surface-vessel market. Another growth trend has been toward yachts with smaller waterlines. Zimmerman hints at a possible smaller system for trawlers; it could be a boon for yacht owners and the scientific community.

In 2023, FarSounder also partnered with Seabed 2030 (see Yachting, May 2024), which aims to map the world’s oceans by 2030. Zimmerman led me to a meeting room where a large screen displayed a FarSounder customer’s recent cruise. “Most of our customers are going places that aren’t well-mapped,” he says, noting that FarSounder sends some clients USB hard drives to capture their systems’ raw data. If issues arise, customers can send the drive to FarSounder, where engineers can troubleshoot and, if necessary, refine the company’s algorithms. These customers can also opt into a fleet-sharing arrangement, where FarSounder sends their anonymous, low-resolution data to Seabed 2030.

In exchange, FarSounder gives these customers access to high-resolution files from the greater fleet-sharing community. This means the customers enjoy some of the world’s finest charts.

And FarSounder sometimes informally collaborates with NOAA scientists. On a recent whale-sounding trip to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, FarSounder equipment detected humpback whales exhibiting interesting diving behaviors. These findings, Zimmerman says, surprised the NOAA marine biologists.

Zimmerman’s eyes lit up as he talked about FarSounder sensors helping to advance science and protect whales. Listening to him talk, I understood what he meant about bass players and obstacle avoidance: FarSounder’s frequencies may be inaudible, but they’re providing game-changing returns on several levels. 

Forward-Looking Returns

The Argos 350 ($57,000) searches 1,148 feet in front of a vessel’s bow at up to 18 knots. The Argos 500 ($108,000) probes 1,640 feet at 20 knots, and the Argos 1000 ($184,000) can prod 3,281 feet at 25 knots. Each one broadcasts shorter, quieter transmissions for infield detection and longer, louder pings for outfield work.

Take the next step: farsounder.com

The post FarSounder’s Argos Collision-Avoidance System Reviewed appeared first on Yachting.

Grotesque. That’s what Paul Lavoie thought as he sat outside a cabin in the Canadian mountains, sipping a coffee and watching the loons. “I was enjoying nature when this pedal boat goes by,” he recalls. “This yellow-and-blue plastic thing that looked like Tupperware.”

His aesthetic sensibilities sufficiently jarred, he began a search for a classic wood version, one more like his 42-foot Matthews Grace that was built in 1958. None existed, so he built one under the name Beau Lake—which he invented because beau means beautiful in French, and it sounded good.

The first pedal-boat model sold out. The company also sold out its St. Tropez pedal boat ($18,500) and electric 14-foot boat ($45,000) with vintage styling.

Then Lavoie got to thinking that water toys are ugly too. “Why do you spend so much money on your boat, and then for some of these accessories, it’s just bad buying,” he says. “Why can’t everything—the Bimini, the steps, the paddleboard—be beautiful?”

Hence, the Beau Lake series of stand-up paddleboards. They come in various shapes and sizes, solid or inflatable. Most of the solid boards are made with EVA foam under wood veneers, with The Rapid model built in carbon fiber and veneer. Each of those boards takes about a week to build. Paddles can be wood, which he says looks nicer, or carbon, which is adjustable.

The Beau Lake team is also trying to figure out how to make a beautiful board that’s fully eco-friendly. “It’s a project that we’re calling The Last Paddleboard,” Lavoie says. “We’re working with all kinds of interesting people to try and figure this thing out.”

The Collection

Models by Beau Lake include 1. The Rapid ($5,100) It’s 14 feet long and moves a little faster through the water. 2. Vilebrequin ($1,400) This is an inflatable board based on the swimwear and clothing company’s Raiatea pattern. 3. The Muskoka ($3,900) Maple and holly wood veneers define this style. 4. The Newport ($1,150) This inflatable board is inspired by the sailing town in Rhode Island.

The post Beau Lake Paddleboards appeared first on Yachting.

When Sabre Yachts launched its 45 Salon Express, which has 49 feet of resin-infused biaxial E-glass and a modified-V hull form, the builder presented a downeaster with high-end amenities and luxury finishes.

The yacht has a two-stateroom layout with a guest stateroom to starboard and a master forward. The galley has what the builder calls a “half-up” arrangement, meaning it’s two steps down from the salon and two steps up from the accommodations.

At press time, there were 10 Sabre 45 Salon Express boats available, ranging from $959,000 to $1.29 million.

From the Archive

“Some 15 knots of wind and a soaking rain nearly canceled my sea trial of the Sabre 45 Salon Express, given the bay’s shallow contours and an opposing tide and wind. Five minutes after we cleared the breakwater and opened upthe throttles on the pair of 435 hp Volvo Penta D6 diesels coupled to IPS600 drives, the weather was an afterthought.”

— Yachting, September 2018

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A favorite playground of international high society, Sardinia mixes the sophistication of the seaside resort of Porto Cervo with wild and breathtaking landscapes and seascapes. The island’s natural beauty, rich history and delectable dining scene make Sardinia an alluring cruising destination.

Island Attractions

Sardinia’s first national park, La Maddalena Archipelago National Park spans about 50,000 acres of sea and land, and skims 111 miles of coastline. Private boats need a permit to cruise its aquamarine waters and 60-plus islands, many of which look like wind- and current-sculpted granite and schist monuments. Inland, explore the rugged, scenic landscapes of Gennargentu National Park via hiking trail, or via train on the slow tourist routes offered by Trenino Verde.

Sardinia is prized for its picturesque beaches. Spiaggia del Principe (Prince’s Beach), a white-sand crescent near Porto Cervo, frequently ranks among the world’s best beaches. The beaches near Chia are considered especially family-friendly, while those in the Golfo di Oristano and Golfo di Orosei areas are known for their beauty.

Read More: Here are five new options for yacht charters in the Mediterranean Sea

For some scenery and history combined, check out the Castello District in Cagliari, Sardinia’s capital city founded in the 13th century. Wander along the narrow walkways to Bastione di Saint Remy, which offers sweeping views. The four-story Archeological Museum displays an impressive collection of artifacts spanning back to the island’s neolithic roots. Delve deeper into the island’s earliest civilization at the Su Nuraxi nuraghe, a Bronze Age defensive complex near Barumini that’s the island’s only UNESCO World Heritage site.

Food and Drink

As the bull’s-eye in Costa Smeralda’s see-and-be-seen scene, Porto Cervo has exceptional dining options. Italo Bassi Confusion Restaurant, one of the island’s four one-star Michelin restaurants, serves creative haute cuisine. Renato Pedrinelli Restaurant Wine Shop and Bar expertly covers all three bases, known for its pastas, seafood and wine list. For a simpler meal, La Briciola earns raves for its fantastic pizza.

In Cagliari, reservations are recommended at L’Osteria Gioia & Gusto, praised for its seafood dishes and friendly service. ChiaroScuro di Marina Ravarotto is the place to sample such Sardinian specialties as su filindeu (a typically handmade pasta that is filament-thin) and casizolu cheese.

Elsewhere on the island, Su Gologone is the destination for Sardinia’s signature roasted pig. Food and wine connoisseurs head to the commune of Mamoiada, where small vintners grow the native cannonau and granatza grapes. Dine at Su Tapiu for innovative farm-to-table fare and at Abbamele Osteria, earning growing acclaim for its updated Sardinian classics.  

The post Cruising Sardinia appeared first on Yachting.

It was 0100 on the tennessee-tombigbee waterway, and Capt. Scott “Red” Flowers was running his Canyon Bay 28h at 17 knots. He encountered a tugboat pushing barges. The tug was illuminated, but the barges were dark. While Flowers is a self-described “old-school radar guy,” the situation was confusing and unfurling fast. Then his Tocaro Blue Proteus Hub prompted him with collision-avoidance alerts. “I hate to admit it,” he says, “but without Proteus, I may have gotten into the barges.”

Instead of crashing, Flowers completed his Great Loop Challenge route in 19 days, 19 hours and 50 minutes, besting the record by nine days while raising $1 million for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

Radar is one of the most important collision-avoidance sensors afloat, but reading radar imagery is an art that can take years to master. It can be frustrating for boaters who only get out on the water a handful of times a season. Tocaro Blue’s Proteus Hub navigation system uses AI machine learning to demystify radar. It bolsters situational awareness by way of built-in cartography and networked automatic identification system data, creating user-friendly two- and three-dimensional screen views of the water ahead on compatible multi- function displays.

Tocaro Blue’s Proteus Hub ($2,950) is a black-box system that networks with a yacht’s NMEA 2000 backbone, also letting it access the boat’s AIS, compass (ideally, its satellite compass), depth transducer and GPS (or GNSS) sensor data. Proteus then connects with the MFD via Ethernet to access data from a compatible magnetron or solid- state radar and to display its 2D and 3D screen views.

Read More: New Yacht Tech for a New Season

Proteus Hubs are built from aluminum and Delrin plastic. They measure 8-by-4-by-1.5 inches. They sport 4G LTE, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi antennas and connectivity, along with N2K, HDMI, USB and Ethernet ports. They also come loaded with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration charts, and with bathymetric data sourced from Tocaro Blue’s user community. C-Map cartography is optional.

Proteus Hubs contain a central processing unit that runs Tocaro Blue’s machine-learning software, which “learns”—sans human instruction or programming—by applying algorithms and statistical models to networked data. Tocaro Blue also offers a software developer kit called Proteus Core that allows using the machine-learning software aboard third-party hardware.

“The intent with Proteus is to provide clear, smart navigation to the captain,” says Andrew Rains, Tocaro Blue’s senior sales director. “By that, we mean reducing the complexity of existing nautical charts and radar displays, and combining a lot of sensor information into one simple interface.”

In the case of radar, Tocaro Blue’s auto-focus function uses machine learning to eliminate irrelevant radar returns, such as land and wave noise. It classifies returns into one of eight categories: land, shoreline constructions, bridges, wake, aids to navigation, small boats (less than 40 feet), medium-size vessels (40 to 150 feet) and large vessels (larger than 150 feet). All of them are represented graphically by icons.

“We can draw a picture of a real object instead of just a radar blob on the screen,” Rains says, noting that Proteus Hubs can classify and track an unlimited number of targets. “That lets us present a lot of information in a simplified format.”

The auto-focus function also helps the system predict how radar targets will behave, and it provides corresponding alert levels. For example, Rains says, small boats tend to exhibit more erratic behavior than large ships. Tocaro Blue’s machine-learning software uses its classification system, embedded cartography, and data coming from other networked sensors to predict the future behavior of its own vessel and of acquired targets over a 30-second horizon.

If this sounds like signal filtering on steroids, welcome to the AI age.

“Machine learning is a lot more sophisticated than filtering, but I’d say that we can intelligently filter [radar targets] because we use machine learning,” Rains says. Raw radar data, he adds, is better for the system’s machine-learning software than post-processed radar returns such as Doppler processing. “Machine learning gets better with the better data that you feed it.”

For example, if the system knows that some returns are land or aids to navigation based on its cartography, then its machine learning can focus on identifying the other targets and predicting their behavior.

This information, plus closest-point-of-approach data to all targets, is presented on a graphically intuitive 2D or 3D screen view on the networked MFD. Users can split their MFD screen between a Proteus Hub screen view and standard radar imagery.

The result, Rains says, is far greater situational awareness than bloblike radar returns, especially when tricky navigation or dodgy crossings are involved.

“It eliminates the question: What’s that?” Rains says. “It eliminates the time that they need to spend learning how to use all their radar capabilities.”

More-advanced users get the most value from the system, he adds, because the software “can present really intelligent collision-avoidance alerts to the captain.” Even old salts, of course, can get distracted.

Looking ahead, Tocaro Blue’s future appears equally clear. Recent years have seen the rise of optical-based collision-avoidance systems, and Rains says the Proteus Core software could complement this technology by residing on third-party hardware. In time, Tocaro Blue’s machine-learning software could also help demystify other instrumentation—say, forward-looking sonar returns. However, Rains says, this isn’t on the company’s immediate road map.

Tocaro Blue’s machine-learning software can also ferret out errors in networked sensors. For example, most autopilots are only accurate to a few degrees unless a satellite compass is involved. (This inherent error can be compounded by the presence of ferrous metals within ships and bridges.) Rains says Tocaro Blue’s machine-learning software can perform a “constellation lock” and triangulate on known reference points, using cartographic and radar data to correct for sensor biases.

While there’s currently no feedback loop to the erroneous native sensors, in time, Rains says, this information could make autopilots and other networked sensors more accurate.

So, for skippers who find radar confusing or want to increase situational awareness, Proteus Hub is worth investigating. Just ask Red Flowers. Despite holding his captain’s license for 45 years, his night on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway could have ended differently without Tocaro Blue’s technology.

Busting Loose

For now, Proteus is available to boaters as a black-box system that networks with a vessel’s N2K and Ethernet networks to access radar and instrumentation data. Tocaro Blue may move to a software-as-a-service model and sell Proteus Core to boaters as software that runs aboard a personal computer or multifunction display. 

The post Smart Navigation with Tocaro Blue’s Proteus Hub appeared first on Yachting.

When most boaters think of Outer Reef Yachts, they think of traits such as long range, bluewater capability and an FRP hull. Now the Florida-based builder is expanding into the fast-displacement explorer-yacht sector with its 780 Adventure, a steel-hulled 78-foot yacht that will be constructed in a yard in the Netherlands that Outer Reef acquired in a recent merger with Lynx Yachts.

This flagship of the Adventure Series is being built to cruise the most remote destinations. Hull No. 1 is expected to debut at yacht shows this year. Outer Reef CEO Jeff Druek says the 780 Adventure is a direct response to increasing demand for explorer yachts: “We’ve seen a growing interest in adventure yachting, particularly among a younger generation of cruisers eager to explore remote and extraordinary destinations. Outer Reef owners have already embarked on remarkable journeys to places like Alaska, the Great Barrier Reef, the Galapagos Islands, Patagonia, Greenland, Iceland and multiple passages around Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego in Chile. This shift highlights a desire for unique, transformative experiences, and Outer Reef is committed to leading the way in these exciting new developments.”

This yacht also represents a significant design departure for Outer Reef, which aims to appeal to those younger buyers. A modern touch on the interior is the volume-enhancing windows that create a bold first impression. Out on deck, the foredeck can stow a RIB and water toys, giving energetic cruising families plenty of options for playtime on the hook. The main deck aft is set up for entertainment and relaxation, with two L-shaped settees flanking the space forward and a transom settee aft. The flybridge is dedicated to entertaining. (The 780’s only helm station is on the main deck.) This flybridge setup allows for a lounge pad aft beyond the hardtop, alfresco dining amidships, and multiple lounge areas forward.

According to the builder, the combination of a fast-displacement steel hull and optional Cat C32 diesels gives the 780 Adventure an estimated 18-knot top speed, while the standard twin 425 hp Cummins diesels should deliver a nearly 3,200-nautical-mile range cruising at 7 knots. The 780 is also equipped with fin stabilizers that have zero-speed functionality for added stability underway and at anchor.

The main-deck interior has the salon lounge area aft, with L-shaped sofas to port and starboard. A high-low table to port offers an interior dining spot. The main-deck galley and pilothouse are past the forward bulkhead.

For owners looking to combine modern aesthetics and creature comforts with the ability to throw a pin at a chart and go, the Outer Reef Yachts 780 Adventure provides the best of both worlds.

Your Way

Thanks to a high level of maneuverability and docking technology, the 780 Adventure is owner-operator-friendly, but also has space for a small crew in case owners want to enjoy a little more relaxation while cruising.

Belowdecks

The 780 Adventure is designed with flexibility in mind. Accommodations can vary depending on what an owner needs for different cruising plans with family and friends. The builder offers the model in a four-or five-stateroom layout. 

Flex Space

While most of the outdoor space on the 780 Adventure is dedicated to entertaining, the foredeck is set up for a RIB tender and PWC stowage. Owners can also opt for seating.

Take the next step: outerreefyachts.com

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Dockmares have a way of burrowing into the psyche. As a kid, Michelle Hildyard was cruising England’s southern coast with her family aboard Storm King, their Kings Cruiser 29. As they tucked into Langstone Harbour, waves were heaving Storm King—and the dock—while Hildyard’s dad made his approach. Then Hildyard’s sister, impatient to debark, leapt from the moving boat and blew her landing. Hildyard’s mom grabbed the helm, and her dad scooped her sister back aboard. “She could have gotten squished,” Hildyard recalls.

Jump to 2024, and Hildyard, who was recently promoted to vice president of operations at Raymarine and FLIR Maritime, has the opportunity to help make boating a better, safer experience for everyone.

Hildyard joined Raymarine 20 years ago. Since then, the powerboats that she and her husband have owned have grown in size and complexity, as have her job responsibilities. Now 47, she grew up in Southampton on England’s southern coast, a short distance from Southampton Water, a tidal estuary that spills into the Solent. This is one of the world’s great boating areas. The Isle of Wight is nearby, as is the storied English Channel.

“I started sailing dinghies when I was 8,” Hildyard says. “I enjoyed racing, and I did that competitively for a number of years.”

For college, Hildyard moved north to the landlocked University of Reading, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in pathobiology. Next came a move to London, where she worked in the cable TV business, first as a strategy and network development manager for Cable & Wireless Communications, and then as a procurement manager for Sky TV.

Yet, the sea’s gravity was never far from her mind. “I always had friends back home on the south coast, and I always used to come and do a lot of boating,” Hildyard says.

Her entry to the marine industry involved some serendipity. Hildyard met her future husband racing dinghies as teenagers. By the mid-2000s, they were a pair. “He didn’t want to move to London, so we decided that I’d finish my stint in London,” she says. “A job came up at Raymarine, along with a couple other supply-chain jobs. What swayed me to Raymarine was because it was in the marine industry.”

Hildyard began in 2005, at the height of the industry’s pre-Great Recession boom. She was a supply-chain manager, a position that she held for 18 months before getting promoted to commercial director. She and her husband took up power cruising in 2007 when they purchased a Fairline Phantom 40.

The Great Recession began later that year, and “things weren’t brilliant,” Hildyard recalls. Raymarine was still an independent company at the time. “I learned a lot because I was working with the bankers, with the financial advisers, about how to support Raymarine in restructuring to be sold.”

By May 2010, FLIR Systems, the US-based thermal-imaging giant, had purchased Raymarine. “One of the things we took on at Raymarine was FLIR’s marine thermal-imaging cameras, growing that business and incorporating it into Raymarine’s portfolio,” Hildyard says. This coincided with her promotion to director of global customer service, a position that she held for more than eight years.

Around that time, anticipating the arrival of their first daughter, the Hildyards upgraded to a Fairline Phantom Targa 44. “Our eldest daughter was 10 months old when she did her first Channel crossing,” Hildyard says, “but she was on the boat at five days old.”

In 2011, Hildyard enrolled at University of Southampton Business School, where she earned her MBA. This program took three years. With graduation approaching, the family upgraded again in 2013, this time to a Fairline Targa 47 GT. “It’s a really good cruising boat,” Hildyard says, describing the layout and well-used RIB.

Today, the Hildyards are a family of four who live in Southampton, about a five-minute walk from their marina. From there, Hildyard says, it’s a 25-minute ride at 6 knots to the Solent, a route the family knows well. “On the weekends, we can go to Lymington, Beaulieu, and Cowes and Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight,” she says. “A little bit farther afield and we can go to Poole or Weymouth, or across to the Channel Islands and France.”

In fall 2018, Hildyard was named vice president of customer service before becoming vice president of product management and development. One of her responsibilities in the latter role involved developing a clearer understanding of market needs and driving new product to fill niches. Layered on top of this came two major macro-level changes: the pandemic, and Teledyne’s acquisition of FLIR and Raymarine in May 2021.

“We hunkered down,” Hildyard says. “Then 2021 hit, and aside from the supply-chain shortages, it was great because the marine industry came back to life. People couldn’t travel, but they certainly wanted leisure time.” This translated to boat sales and the acquisition.

While Hildyard describes Teledyne (an American technology firm) as a great parent company that has natural synergies with FLIR and Raymarine, the marine electronics market is competitive. “To continue growing the business, we need to continue a good cadence of product introductions,” Hildyard says. “You’ve got to understand what your customers’ problems are, and you’ve got to solve those problems.”

Obvious problems, she says, involve lowering boating’s barriers to entry while engaging more experienced boaters.

“For most people, docking is horrendous. It’s the worst part of the experience,” she says, pointing to DockSense, which is Raymarine’s camera- and GPS-based assisted-docking system. “You can create [air] bumpers around your boat, and no matter how much you bring your [helm] over, it’s not going to get within a half a meter of that pontoon or hit another boat.”

While Hildyard sees DockSense and other AI-based technologies as crucial, she’s aware of the coin’s other side. “A lot of people buy a boat for the pleasure of sailing or driving it,” she says. “Automation and AI must enhance that experience, rather than take over.”

One example of this, Hildyard says, is advanced technologies that help anglers find fish faster while reducing their time and fuel burn.

Looking ahead, Hildyard expects several important waypoints that need to be met as the boating world catches up to the digital age. The first involves connectivity and digital switching.

“When you go out cruising or fishing, you want to know that your boat is ready; you want to be able to check things in advance,” she says. While these home-type technologies are finding their way aboard, Hildyard says the sea change will take another few years.

On the three- to five-year horizon, Hildyard expects automation and AI to play increasingly bigger roles. But as a lifelong boater, she understands there’s a fine line involved. “I think it’s how you apply it in the industry that’s going to be very interesting, and how people want to use it,” she says.

Looking five to 10 years down the course, Hildyard expects to see fully autonomous yachts. “Making the right decisions on what sensors to develop and what technologies to prioritize is going to be critical,” she says, noting that this task, along with fostering in-house innovations and outside partnerships, is a big part of her role.

There’s no question that technologies like DockSense would have added serious safety margins the day that Hildyard’s sister fell overboard. A lifelong boater with decades of industry experience may have precisely the right combination of expertise to guide Raymarine and FLIR through the evolutions that will decide boating’s future.

Side Rides

In addition to their Fairline Targa 47 GT, the Hildyards recently acquired an e-foil board, giving the family the chance to experience the boating world’s coolest craze. Also, the Targa 47 GT carries a Williams Jet Tender, which they use to get ashore and to support their watersports habit.

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Legacy, at its heart, is about a bequest. It’s the act of leaving something from the past that might affect the future. Legacy can be small or large, fleeting or long-lasting, woefully insignificant or deeply meaningful. The individuals whose legacies live on the longest tend to be remembered as visionaries, with deaths that mark a before-and-after line in all of our lives.

For people all around the world who love to enjoy the water aboard yachts, Paolo Vitelli’s death in December left that type of mark. The founder of Azimut Yachts who went on to build the globally dominant Azimut Benetti Group died following an accident at home in Italy. He was 77.

“He had an overabundance of excitement about creating boats and coming up with ideas about boats,” says Yachting Editor-in-Chief Patrick Sciacca. “There are people who have jobs, and there are people who have purpose. He had an energy that flowed off of him. He loved what he did. You could feel it.”

Vitelli was born in Turin, Italy, in 1947. At first, he attempted the nightclub business, but then used his earnings to rent a boat and explore the coast—an experience he loved so much, and repeated so often, that people started asking him how they could do it too. At age 21, Vitelli founded Azimut Srl as a charter business before he had graduated from college.

Soon, Azimut was a brokerage and then an importer of boats from Northern Europe and England. The business then evolved into construction with Italian style. Vitelli launched a series of Azimut builds in the mid-1970s, including his first model, the fiberglass AZ 43 Bali. In 1977, he premiered the AZ 32 with features that many people take for granted today, such as a raised wheelhouse and an opening sunroof. He didn’t think of these early boats as luxurious, but instead as ways to help people get on the water.

Vitelli next expanded the Azimut range up to the Failaka 105—at the time, the largest fiberglass boat ever built, ushering in an era of mass production for larger fiberglass yachts. Various hulls of the Failaka 105 were sold to prominent people worldwide, including a Middle Eastern prince and the Onassis family, putting Vitelli in a position to expand further.

In 1985, he acquired another Italian brand: Benetti. That shipyard had been turning out everything from commercial vessels to private yachts for more than a century, and had gained international fame with the 282-foot Nabila—at the time, the largest private yacht in the world. It had a futuristic silver hull that turned heads in every harbor and had been shown in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, but it also represented a financial loss for Benetti, which ended up filing for bankruptcy after the delivery. Vitelli purchased what was left of Benetti, scooped up the yard’s reputation for innovation, and merged the businesses into Azimut Benetti Group.

That move laid the groundwork for the company that today reports revenues of about $1.3 billion and 20 percent share in the global mega-yacht market. Vitelli achieved that success by focusing on innovations, expansions and promotions throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He embraced competition at a time when all kinds of advancements were being made in powerboat design and systems creation, from transatlantic racing to sustainability.

In recent years, Vitelli was a vocal champion of eco-friendly powerboating. He talked frequently about how he cruised in the Mediterranean each summer and thought the entire coastline could be better protected for future generations to enjoy.

Vitelli thought about legacy in other ways too. In 2023, his daughter, Giovanna Vitelli, succeeded her father and became chairwoman of Azimut Benetti Group—a fact that Paolo Vitelli said made him immensely proud, as he was able to hand over the family-run company with no major drama, no significant restructuring and no intervention from banks. His vision of eco-friendly cruising remains core to the group’s plans, with work on HVO biofuel and hybrid technologies. Half of Azimut’s fleet includes low-emission yachts with four levels of electrification, such as full hybrid. Benetti offers hybrid versions of almost its entire range, and the B.Yond line achieves significant carbon-dioxide reductions compared to conventional yachts, as does the Azimut Seadeck series.

Giovanna Vitelli recently marked the quarter-century history of the group her father created by saying: “Twenty-five years at the top of the sector represent a true record within a record, a testament to our unwavering entrepreneurial vision, which is based on an organic, resilient and sustainable growth strategy aimed at creating durable value that lasts over time.”

She will now carry on her father’s legacy. Hopefully, for many more years to come.

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One of my favorite movies of the past several years was The Florida Project, director Sean Baker’s masterful take on the seedy underside of the Sunshine State as experienced by a feisty 6-year-old in a rundown budget motel just a stone’s throw from Walt Disney World (code-named “the Florida project” during its planning stages). For the past couple of winters, I’ve conducted my own personal Florida project, living aboard my Pearson 365, August West, in a tiny cove on Sarasota Bay tucked behind a barrier island called Longboat Key.

I was aware from the outset that I was tempting fate by keeping a boat on Florida’s west coast during hurricane season, and was especially fearful last summer when the steamy, adjacent Gulf of Mexico topped out with seawater temperatures approaching 100 degrees. I was terrified that the soupy brine would turn into an incubator for tropical activity, which proved to be precisely the case. We were mostly spared the wrath of brutal Hurricane Helene, but two short weeks later, when Hurricane Milton made landfall on Siesta Key a handful of miles south of my berth, my little marina was creamed.

Unlike several of my dock neighbors, which sank or were dismasted, my rugged old Pearson—built like the proverbial brick outhouse back in the mid-1970s—remained afloat, its bilges dry. But August West did get punched in the nose: The bow pulpit, anchor platform and headsail furler were swept away, along with several forward stanchions. All repairable, but now I’m facing several actual projects. Boat projects.

All of which has led me to some existential questions. I’m seriously grappling for answers. Should I double down, make the repairs here, and cross my fingers that Milton was “the big one” and all shall be well going forward? Or do I cut my losses, bail out, and point that scruffy bow northward toward my Rhode Island home waters? After all, August West may not look like much at the moment, but it’s still a perfectly capable, oceangoing sailboat.

At this precise moment in time, the option of bailing seems to be the more sensible one.

Part of this has to do with the marina. Several of the docks took direct, wipe-out hits, and it’s unclear when or if the condo association that owns them will wish to invest the considerable sums it will take to fix them. After all, it’s wrestling with the same question I am: When’s the next one coming?

Read More from Herb McCormick: Category Five: Superstorms and the Warming Oceans That Feed Them

It’s impossible to arrive at a comfortable, optimistic answer. You can debate “the climate” all you want, but the fact is, the Gulf Coast has been belted repeatedly during the past few years. It will be years before Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island will ever be the same, and you can now add Siesta Key, Longboat Key and Bradenton Beach to that sad list. What’s that line about insanity—expecting different results from the same repeated activity?

The Florida Project concludes on a devastating note. The little protagonist, in the face of youthful tragedy, makes a break through Disney World. She runs and runs, bound for the Magic Kingdom. It’s all so lovely, so fresh and polished and inviting.

It’s all a bloody mirage.  

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