Cruising World - February 2016

BOATS & GEAR

Internet of Things.

Meanwhile, across the

marine space, traditional

boundaries that defi ned what

sort of mariner used a partic-

ular piece of gear are breaking

down. Sonar, for instance, was

traditionally found on pow-

erboats, not sailboats, but

this is changing with forward-

looking sonar technology —

including B&G’s ForwardScan

and Garmin’s Panoptix For-

ward Transducer. This gear

hit the market in mid-2015

and now gives sailors the abil-

ity to see what lies ahead in a

coral pass or harbor entrance.

While the technologies be-

hind these products are dif-

ferent, both aim to increase a

sailor’s situational awareness

and are reportedly already be-

ing used by sailors to wend

through ice and tight, rocky

passages.

Digital-switching systems

— already entrenched on the

powerboat side — have also

emerged as a fast- moving

trend on new sailboats. These

systems are often signifi cantly

lighter and easier to install

than their hardwired rivals.

“Digital switching is growing

all around,” says McGowan.

“Builders can save several

grand by installing digital

switching, as copper wire is

expensive.”

Some manufacturers believe

modern MFDs can serve as

the user interface for a digital-

s witching system that controls

all a vessel’s functions, but not

all are sold on the concept.

Wood says Furuno is look-

ing at digital switching, but so

far the company remains skep-

tical of the ability of an MFD

to control such a system.

“There are a lot of traditional

sailors who don’t want naviga-

tion and switching combined,”

he says.

While integrating digital-

switching systems and wireless

instrumentation and sensors is

contentious to some, everyone

can agree that having access to

up-to-date information allows

sailors to make better, more

informed choices. To further

this goal, most MFDs are now

equipped with built-in Wi-Fi,

both to facilitate information-

rich Wireless Local Area Net-

works and to allow the MFD

to go online when connectiv-

ity exists — say, at a marina

— to do myriad tasks, includ-

ing chart updates and sharing

crowdsourced information.

The bottom line: Cruisers

are already benefi ting from

faster, more capable and less

expensive MFDs that come

loaded with sailing-specifi c fea-

tures, especially as manufactur-

ers compete with one another

over this market share. Thanks

to current market trends such

as wireless connectivity, smart

devices and digital switching,

odds are good that sailors can

look forward to increasingly

sophisticated interfaces that

will be easier to use, but will

also help ensure the safety of

their vessel both at the dock

and underway.

David Schmidt is CW’s electron-

ics editor.

Furuno’s wireless radar

COURTESY OF THE MANUFACTURERS