Wind, waves and cutting-edge marine electronics — World Cruising news

by David Schmidt, Sail-World Cruising Editor on 4 Oct 2015 For many cruisers, the true joy of sailing involves a fresh breeze, saline spray, and the opportunity to work with nature…not integrated circuits or electricity. But, when it comes to navigation and situational awareness, there’s no question that today’s feature-rich offerings provide a massive advantage over the tools of yore. And when it comes to learning more about the latest and greatest marine electronics, boat shows provide a fantastic opportunity to see cutting-edge equipment and comparison shop between brands.

While most boat shows are open to the public, the National Marine Electronics Association’s (NMEA) Conference and Expo, which is currently taking place in Baltimore, Maryland, is reserved for marine-industry folks, from manufacturers to dealers to boat builders (and, fortunately for me, journalists), who show up to learn more about recent marine-electronics advancements and network with other tech-savvy people, sans the hustle and bustle of a regular show.

I’ve spent the last two days running through sea trials of the newest equipment and talking with many industry thought leaders, and I’ve been impressed with the amount of new equipment and new software features that are geared towards serious cruisers. But, more importantly, I have been impressed with the industry’s overall trend toward integration, ease-of-use and safety, which bode well for all cruisers.

The last few years have seen multi-function displays (MFDs) play increasingly elevated onboard roles, especially as the industry moves away from dedicated modules (e.g., sounders or WiFi) and toward integrating these capabilities into the MFD itself. Because of this, there’s a much greater need for today’s MFDs to be as intuitive as a tablet or a smartphone, while offering a huge amount of speed and processing power. (If this sounds more like a marinized PC than a chartplotter, you’re on the right path.)

And while one can easily slide into a heated debate as to which manufacturer offers the richest feature set, the great news for end users is that all the major brands now produce MFDs that hit all of their deliverables while also being a pleasure to use compared to offerings from even five years ago.

Take, for example, the sailing-specific features that now come standard on most MFDs and graphically display all sorts of data, from starting-line assistance to laylines to wind and compass roses. On the surface, these features appear to be aimed at the yacht-racing market, but they can be equally valuable to cruising sailors, helping them to sail faster, more efficient passages and use racing-oriented strategies such as laylines and opposite-tack angles to their advantage.

And that’s to say nothing about the latest advancements in radar, AIS, forward-looking sonar, user-generated cartography, thermal-imaging cameras, and communications equipment that are all on display at the NMEA Conference and Expo.

So, if you’re feeling a bit behind the times in your understanding of the great electronic cruising tools that are now available, be sure to check out this year’s offerings, both online and at the various international boat shows, or-if you happen to be in the marine industry-this week’s trade-only NMEA Conference and Expo. Odds are excellent that you’ll be impressed, but just be sure to ground yourself in the reality that not-so-ancient mariners relied on sextants and other primitive-but-effective instruments until only a few decades ago, making this an exciting time to be a boater.

May the four winds blow you safely home,