JANUARY 2018 / VOL 33 — ISSUE 1SPORTFISHINGMAG.COM 39abrupt acceleration and lurching,
which becomes particularly hazard-
ous in tight quarters, such as a crowded
marina. It can also put unprepared
crew members at risk. They can fall to
the deck or, even worse, go overboard.
The smoothness also leads to a
tendency to shift completely through
the neutral position and into reverse
when decelerating. That’s rough on the
gears and propeller hub.
To mitigate these issues, manu-
facturers have incorporated tension
adjustments into electronic binnacles.
This lets you add friction to the control
lever to help eliminate inadvertent and
abrupt acceleration.MULTI-OUTBOARD
FEATURES
Electronic controls ease the task of
running multiple outboards. With
Mercury Marine’s Digital Throttle and
Shift (DTS), for example, a press of athe rigging work yourself, labor costs
for upgrading to a drive-by-wire motor
will also increase versus retrofit-
ting with a mechanical engine. That’s
because the installing dealer needs to
remove the old rigging and add new
elements, such as a new control harness
and sub-assembly cables, engine-
control module, binnacle, ignition
key and start/stop switch, and engine
instrumentation.
HELM CHANGES
A re-power can grow into a larger
project than you might have originally
budgeted when switching to a drive-
by-wire engine due to unanticipated
complications. For example, there’s
no guarantee that the footprint for the
new binnacle will match the old one.
When the footprints do not match,
it leads to fiberglass and gelcoat repair
work to patch the old mounting holes.
Also, newer all-in-one multifunction
engine displays occupy a fraction of
the space that old-school individual
gauges required, often leaving a bunch
of empty holes to fill in the dash.
Based on these possible complica-
tions, some boaters opt to stay with
mechanical models when replac-
ing aging outboards, thus eliminating
much of the extra rigging costs. Usually,
the new mechanical outboard will work
with the existing harnesses, controls
and instruments, provided you stay
with the same brand of outboard.
EASIER OPERATION
Shifting and throttle adjustments
become silky smooth with electronic
controls. That’s because there are no
cables or complex mechanisms in the
binnacle to bind up. Instead, electrical
servos under the outboard hood respond
to shift and throttle inputs.
At the press of a mere fingertip, you
can advance the throttle from neu-
tral to full throttle. It’s that sensitive;
a marvelous tool in the hands of an
experienced and attentive skipper.
For those who are uninitiated or
more accustomed to mechanical con-
trols with more stiffness in the levers,
such responsiveness can result in
button on the control box lets you use a
single lever for shift and throttle of up to
four outboards. Another button on the
DTS binnacle synchronizes the revolu-
tions per minute for up to four motors.
Drive-by-wire systems also facilitate
the addition of second helm stations in
a tower. A second binnacle integrates
with the electronic controls. A press of
a button transfers control.
The advent of electronic controls has
also led to new features, such as Suzuki
Marine’s troll mode for fine adjust-
ments in the lower-rpm range, using a
rocker switch when slow-trolling.
The Evinrude Icon II and Yamaha
Helm Master binnacles feature engine-
speed controls that work like cruise
control in an automobile. With the
Yamaha system, once you reach your
desired revolutions per minute, press
the speed-control button to hold that
velocity. Both systems let you throttle
up or down in minute increments to
fine-tune your speed for maximum
fuel efficiency or achieve just the right
trolling speed.
Someday soon, the outboards
powering the vast majority of salt water
fishing boats will feature electronic
throttle and shift. And ultimately,
that’s a good thing. As I intimated at
the beginning, once you experience this
technology, you’ll never want to go back
to the old cable controls again.MORE BETTER BOATING
For tips on electronic controls,
visit sportfishingmag.com/
joystick-boat-steering.Mechanical binnacles for cable throttle and
shift systems require substantial mounting
depth and bigger cutouts than do plug-and-
play top-mount electronic binnacles.JOYSTICK COMPATIBILITY
Electronic throttle and shift controls also make possible integrated joystick steering systems, some
of which incorporate station-keeping features. The computer brains of systems such as Evinrude
iDock, Mercury Joystick Piloting for Outboards, SeaStar Solutions Optimus 360 and Yamaha Helm
Master appropriate the electronic throttle and shift, and combine it with independent outboard
steering to point, pivot and move the boat in joystick mode.BOATS JANUARY 2018 / VOL 33 — ISSUE 1