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BoatU.S. Magazine shares boating industry insider info on 5 new products vying to be the next big thing for recreational boaters
Photo: IBEX
A perk of producing a recreational boating magazine is that our vocation gets us access to new products before they come to market. In the journalism business, manufacturers often provide secret information “under embargo,” meaning we can’t let you know about something until after a date set by the manufacturer still readying its product launch.
Not everything works out as planned, though; some new products suffer some degree of failure-to-launch, never catching on with consumers. In our pursuit to provide our members with the latest news from the pleasure boating world, BoatU.S. Magazine editors attend the International Boatbuilders Exhibition & Conference (IBEX), a boating industry event closed to the public, at which a gathering of big and small manufacturers and distributors of marine parts and accessories, along with a diverse collection of inventors-turned-entrepreneurs, meet each September in Tampa, Florida, in search of business partners.
At the last show, I was invited to be an innovation judge. I found some smart and practical products that seem like they’d find a fit in the boating marketplace, whether as an OEM product installed as part of a new boat build (and possibly rebranded with a different name), or as an aftermarket add-on product for a local boatyard or for the boat owner to install. It’s far too early for us to vouch for the quality or effectiveness of products so new to the market, but these show potential. See if you agree.
All prices listed were correct as of press time and are subject to change.
Proteus Hub
“Most boaters only turn on their radar when bad weather is approaching,” says Andrew Rains of Tocaro Blue, an Alabama-based marine technology developer founded by entrepreneurs/boaters Tom and Carol Patterson. “But they’re missing out on a lot of live tracking smart data.”
Proteus Hub is an AI-powered marine navigation tool that collects data from your onboard radar, chartplotter, depth sounder, and GPS, then renders what’s normally viewed in two-dimensional imagery on a flat multifunction display (MFD) into a 3D display that resembles your boat as viewed from a hovering drone camera. That fuzzy blip representing an oncoming boat on your radar now looks on your MFD display like a 3D boat heading toward your 3D boat.
Markers and land appear as they do to the naked eye. Beneath the digital boats and sea surface is a bathymetric chart showing depth beneath your hull. More important, the system alerts skippers to rising seafloor and water hazards, and even prioritizes threats. An AIS (automatic identification system) is not required but can be incorporated into the Proteus system. And in case you didn’t know, radar tracks targets faster than AIS.
Proteus is compatible with Garmin, Navico, Raymarine, and Furuno displays with an HDMI Input. The system taps cellular 4G LTE and Wi-Fi to stay connected for updates, including features like Active Depth Remapping. Proteus is designed as an enhancement for your radar, not a replacement for your chartplotter. Proteus won the OEM Electronics category at the IBEX show. Price is expected to be around $2,995 | tocaroblue.com
Photo: Rich Armstrong
Outer Armor Self-Boot Power Bimini
Pontoon boat owners stowing their bimini tops make the best of an awkward situation every time they struggle to slip on and zip up the canvas boot sleeve they just wrestled to wrap around their folded canvas top. What if you could stow your bimini with the push of a button from the helm seat? And the result would be a neater appearance and longer life for your better protected canvas top? There are other power biminis out there but none that automatically gathers and boots the canvas top into a UV-stable box.
The Self-Boot Power Bimini demonstration looked promising! As the bimini retracts, integrated elastic bands gather the canvas and fold it accordion-style. Specially designed finger guides ensure it slips into the (patent-pending) boot box that automatically opens and closes. Also impressive was the quiet operation from the power actuators. And this is a sturdy bimini frame made of aluminum tubing, bronze bushings, and gas shocks. The frame is rated up to 65 mph, according to manufacturer Commercial Sewing. The Connecticut-based company specializes in canvas products for the marine and powersports markets.
At press time, the patent-pending product was still looking for pontoon boat partners that will offer the Self-Boot Power Bimini as a standard feature or option. In the meantime, it did win the Deck Equipment and Hardware category at IBEX. commercialsewing.com
Bowstep G2
Learning to shuffle your feet along a trailer frame while clinging to the boat like a man on a window ledge is part of the trailer boating lifestyle. Add a splash of water at the launch ramp and footing gets slippery fast. Only a trailer boater could have designed the Bowstep G2, a foot-activated step mechanism that replaces awkward over-the-gunwales climbaboards with an easy climb up seven nonskid steps.
A total aftermarket product that bolts onto a trailer frame (port or starboard side) the Bow Step G2 can be deployed, folded, and locked from either the top step or the ground. A balanced “zero-gravity” design enables the stainless-steel structure to be deployed and folded with a foot touch on the deck-level deployment handle. The coolest part of the design is the foot actuator at the top step. A simple foot tap unlocks the folding step, deploys it, and locks it back into place. From the ground, the deployment handle can be pushed by hand. When folded and locked, the unit safely travels at highway speed as part of the trailer. The Bow Step G2, which won the innovation award in the Trailers, Parts, and Trailer Accessories category, sells for $595 | qualitymarkinc.com
SFD-1000-N2K Lightning Detector
Safe boaters know the threat of lightning on the water is nothing to be taken lightly. There are plenty of portable lightning detectors (such as Talos’ carry-aboard Lightning Detector for Boats & Watercraft) and lightning tracker apps, but the SFD-1000-N2K Talos Lightning Detector is the first engineered to be installed on the boat and integrated with the onboard NMEA2000 network so warnings pop up on all MFD screens.
The new SFD-1000-N2K is already on the market, both for boatbuilders to offer as an optional accessory and for consumers looking to retrofit their boats. The 6-inch waterproof module plugs into an NMEA2000 network, providing a self-contained warning system that doesn’t need Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity. With no maintenance or batteries to replace, this product is designed to be plug-and-play/set-it-and-forget-it.
Talos claims the SFD-1000-N2K can accurately detect cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-surface lightning up to 25 nautical miles away (thunder can be heard from about 10 miles), providing the boater critical early warning time to act. Alerts report the lightning strike distance, tracking as the storm gets closer or moves away — even giving an all-clear notification 30 minutes after the last detected strike. $349 | taloslightningdetectors.com
CLiX
Wouldn’t it be great if the fuel nozzle automatically shut off (without spilling a drop) when filling up your boat — just as it does with your vehicle? Boat fuel intake designs vary, so pumps designed to refuel cars don’t work as well with boats. It’s a design flaw that boaters have worked around for decades. While products like the Clean Way Fuel Fill capture overflow fuel and channel it back into the fuel tank, the funnel-shaped CLiX nozzle sleeve from Arthur Edson, LLC, makes the pump handle loudly click off, as it’s designed to do — just like with your vehicle, with no overfill spray.
Made of a flexible biodegradable antistatic material, CLiX is inserted into the boat’s fill tube and self-adjusts to the three common opening sizes (1.5-, 1.75-, and 2-inch diameter). The snug fit restricts air flow to the minimum needed to avoid pressurizing, while allowing the vacuum effect caused by rising fuel to close the venturi pipe in the nozzle and trigger the automatic shutoff before fuel gushes out faster than the person holding the pump handle can react. The unit has rings around each of three diameter sections that align with the threads on the gas intake to help assure a good fit. Both gasoline and diesel models are available. $39.95 | clixfueling.com