THE INTELLIGENT BOAT
What is it? Real time boat monitoring that allows remote checking of a vessel’s status and essential systems.
Who is it for? Any owner who wants to know how their boat is faring while they’re either on or away from it.
Although there has long been plenty of talk about smart boats on which a multitude of data is captured and analysed, this is a long way from being mainstream. Nevertheless, there are a number of generally small and young companies that are actively working in this field.
At its most basic a system might offer basic remote monitoring of just five core functions: GPS position, bilge alarm, smoke (ie fire) alarm, battery voltage, and intruder alarm. Although very few yachts have even such a basic system–at a guess a fraction of one per cent–it’s a hugely appealing concept.
I’m writing this on my cruising yacht in the Aegean, a boat I keep deliberately very simple to minimise downtime for maintenance. However, when I’m at home, 1,500 miles away, it would
