Tech advances on display at Newport boat show

POSITIVE ENERGY: The cabin of the Greenline GL 40 hybrid boat, the world’s only production-built diesel-, electric- and solar-powered boat, which will be at this year’s Newport International Boat Show. / COURTESY NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW
POSITIVE ENERGY: The cabin of the Greenline GL 40 hybrid boat, the world’s only production-built diesel-, electric- and solar-powered boat, which will be at this year’s Newport International Boat Show. / COURTESY NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW

From keeping a boat maintaining its exact position in the water without an anchor, to consulting the eight manuals your boat requires on the same tablet or kicking back and watching a movie at sea, this year’s Newport International Boat Show promises to be its most tech-driven incarnation yet.
Some of the technology that will be on display at the three-day event being held Sept. 12-15 at various locations along America’s Cup Avenue in Newport is in pursuit of “greener” boating.
Tom Delotto, director of the Newport Exhibition Group, which hosts the show, has noticed a lot of interest in the show’s Newport for New Products awards program this year, which is co-managed by Cruising World, Sailing World and Yachting magazines with Delotto’s group.
“We’ve received a record number of entries this year,” Delotto said. “Submissions represent the latest in marine watercraft and consumer technology, such as the world’s only production-built diesel-, electric- and solar-powered boat – the Greenline GL 40 – and the Raymarine Evolution Autopilot.”
The Greenline GL 40, a hybrid craft twice over, will make its first appearance at the show. It fits with boat owners’ longstanding desire to avoid wasting fuel, which is only now coming to fruition.
Phil Lee, of Portsmouth-based Cay Electronics, has noticed that the boating industry has been behind its car-making peers.
“What has made the industry more affordable is the research that has been put into it by the automotive industry,” he said.
Also on view at the boat show will be Cay’s wooden, electric-powered eCraft 20, intended for use in such places as the canals of Florida and Venice, Calif., and even the inland waterways of the Carolinas.
Those favoring bumpier seas, including Narragansett Bay on windy days, they can end up making use of technology in other ways. That’s one reason that Safe/Sea, the North Kingstown-based marine-rescue company, will have representatives at the show. The Safe/Sea personnel will be displaying, and using, a customized FilemakerPro app that the company designed to sign up new customers. Safe/Sea is an industry tech leader and markets its database-management system and app to other towing businesses around the country. Fifteen maritime towing businesses have purchased the cloud-based system to date.
“It speeds response time, because we don’t have to spend as much time taking in information,” said Pete Andrews, vice president and minority owner of the family-run business.
Andrews pointed out that offering a cloud-based, data-management system has particular appeal in a watery environment. “You don’t want to rely on a handheld device only,” he said. “When the device goes splash, there goes all your data.”
Beyond such practical applications, maritime technology increasingly is bringing the comforts of land, and even the home, to private watercraft. Middletown-based KVH Industries has a rapidly expanding international presence in this realm. The latest technology combines KVH’s well-established mini-VSAT onboard satellite broadband reception with entertainment delivery systems that it obtained when it purchased Headland Media in June for $24 million.
KVH is also a major industry player when it comes to maritime phone systems with its TracPhone line of products, as well as satellite TV it delivers via its TracVision product line.
Portsmouth-based Hunt Yachts also uses Volvo propulsion systems that include stay-in-place technology, what Volvo calls the Dynamic Positioning System. •

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