Though possibly a bit self serving, I’m pleased to find out that the corporation I largely work for—Primedia, owner of both Sail and PMY—has introduced a program whereby anyone can buy inexpensive subscriptions to many of its “enthusiast” magazines for active duty U.S. soldiers who would like to spend a little time immersed in boats, or hot rods, or fishing, or whatever. Whereas things aren’t going so well for them, some enthusiastic words and pictures must be a welcome diversion. I once went to a PMY staff conference where Primedia’s head creative guy deconstructed our magazine, and others, looking for how they actually affect users. He saw our role in high fallutin terms—giving nutrition to a reader’s passion, saying ‘yes’ in a ‘no’ world—that challenged us to do better, even if only fractionally true. Of course another way to support the troops is to vote. So, for goodness sake, vote!
In a way, this photo, bigger here, doesn’t do Argonaut’s new Tflex-G615 monitor justice, but then again I took it at the NMEA Conference with a Canon XT flash aimed directly into the poor thing’s LCD. Try that with a conventional lap– or desktop screen! It is indeed noteworthy that Argonaut has come up with a “waterproof sunlight readable” monitor under a grand, but do note that its claimed 2,000 NITS transflective equivalency is figured in direct sunlight. I’m going to test one soon and will be interested to see how it does in bright situations without direct light. Note, too, all the added features—optical bonding, multiple inputs, wider range dimming, PiP, etc.—that you get with the Tflex-G515, the same underlying LCD, I think, but costing nearly three times the money.
More good pricing news: * Apparently due mostly to lowered memory card costs (all the data for an XL3 size region usually requires two Gigs of space), Navionics has dropped the price of Platinum cards from $499 to $299. Plus there are more Platinum regions available, like in Europe, and US cards still include the right to a free Fish’n Chip (which, by the way, deserves better Panbo coverage). * And, get this, Captn. Jack’s is now offering Maptech’s U.S. Boating Chart DVD for $19.50, still with free ground shipping, money back guarantee, and technical support. And here I thought this a great value at $50. But this special holiday price may not last long; I guess ‘Jack’ wants to get noticed.
Honestly, I have no idea why I snapped this boat show self portrait outside the elevators at my FLIBS hotel, but isn’t it funny how the ceiling fan accidently suggests my propeller-head nature? I’m 60 years old today, friends, and I’m taking the day off.
IBEX, a great show I’m missing (it’s OK), announced its innovation awards today. One winner is Paneltronics’ PowerSign, which is:
“a multiplexed system for intelligent power distribution and management for any vessel using DC loads — meaning you can control and monitor all onboard electrical systems from one location, even remotely. The system comprises four main units: switches; power distribution units; graphical user interfaces; and communications cables.”
Sounds good but will it also handle AC eventually, or offer a NMEA 2000 interface, like OctoPlex? And how does it compare to DNA’s digital switching system, which just got a NMEA 2000 gateway. No answers yet at Paneltronics’ Web site.
Another interesting winner is Torqeedo’s folding electric outboard, which looks like it might be terrific for a cruising boat’s tender, though pricey I fear (made in Germany in small quantities). Meanwhile, here are the nominees for the METS DAME award this year; I look forward to seeing all the products, and who wins.
I hadn’t noticed this in my first pass through photos of the Cape Town trip, but now it’s got extra meaning. That big sculpted helm belongs to a Stealth 540, in fact hull #1. While most South African boatbuilders seemed just a tad behind the curve electronics-wise, Stealth plans to fill in that white space with fairly cutting edge systems—MAN electronic diesel monitoring, an OctoPlex power distribution system, and Raymarine E-120s (given the size of this salon helm, maybe they should consider an E on the fly bridge and the new G monitor here?). If I understood the project manager correctly, all three can be interfaced via NMEA 2000, but the plan is to run them separately at first. The electronics, though, are minor compared to the 540’s hull design and hydrofoil assist, which Stealth claims will result in a 55 mph top end, a soft ride, and good fuel efficiency. Plus it seems pretty good looking for a power cat (much more info and art at StealthYachts.com). Of course all this is conjecture until the 540 is actually in the water, and that’s what tickles me about the picture, just confirmed: Hull #1 will be at the Miami show in February, where a PMY team, myself included, is scheduled to test it.
Another intro at FLIBS, this is the new YTS model of the Nautamatic TR-1 Gladiator autopilot I wrote about a few years ago. The new control head is a nice simple alternative to the somewhat daunting 10–button wired remote that is the primary control on other models. As I understand it, you still get the remote and need it to make the pilot do all the customizable maneuvers that get fishermen excited (I’ve also seen it perform a perfect Williamson man overboard circle). YTS, by the way, stands for “yachts, trawlers, and (big) sportfishers”, who are the new customers Nautamatic is trying to attract. The head will help, but perhaps more important is the performance reputation the Gladiator has earned in the last few years, confirmed pretty emphatically by a recent Powerboat Reports shoot-out. Of course you have to pay for that report, but I have and think it’s one of the most well done product comparisons I’ve seen there. Here’s some detail on why they thought the TR-1 performed the best when compared to a Furuno Navpilot 511OB, Raymarine ST6002+G, and Simrad AP16VF:
“We were blown away by every aspect of the product’s performance. There was nothing that we could do to the boat to throw this unit off course. At 2 knots with one motor in gear, we actually had to verify that the sea anchor had opened properly—the boat’s heading didn’t change even a degree. At 15 knots, when we dropped out an engine, there was again no change. It appeared as if the TR-1 program algorithms are monitoring the engine RPM’s very closely and knew what to expect when we abruptly killed an engine. Even Nautamatic’s GPS interface exceeded our expectations. At 15 knots, when we engaged a waypoint 180 degrees behind us, the TR-1 immediately put us into an aggressive, but controlled, turn. Nautamatic calls this a G-limited turn. All we can say is that within two seconds, we were spun around and tracking back toward the waypoint before the GPS plotter had time to calculate any cross-track error.”
Nautamatic doesn’t have YTS on its Web site yet, but these feisty folks—who are, um, very confidant about their technology—weren’t entirely pleased with the shoot-out and have their say here.
AC eventually, or offer a NMEA 2000 interface, like 
imple alternative to the somewhat daunting 10–button wired remote that is the primary control on other models. As I understand it, you still get the remote and need it to make the pilot do all the customizable maneuvers that get fishermen excited (I’ve also seen it perform a perfect Williamson man overboard circle). YTS, by the way, stands for “yachts, trawlers, and (big) sportfishers”, who are the new customers Nautamatic is trying to attract. The head will help, but perhaps more important is the performance reputation the Gladiator has earned in the last few years, confirmed pretty emphatically by a recent Powerboat Reports shoot-out. Of course you have to