5 trends in boating we want to see this year

Last year was exceptional, with the first fully autonomous boat rolled out not by a recognisable boat brand, but by the parent company of South Korean heavy manufacturing giant Hyundai, which also happens to make cars. 

Yep, we’re now at the point where we are starting to see the technology first rolled out in cars transferred to the water. The likes of Hyundai and Volvo Penta are starting to create smart boats that can sense where they are and what’s around them, and respond accordingly without any input from the skipper.

However, systems as advanced as this are still a long way off, with conditions on the road being very different to being out on the water. But even if we can’t see self-navigating boats become the norm this year, there’s still enough happening that we can anticipate arriving this year.

What, then, can we expect? Let’s take a look into boating’s crystal ball.

The annual Miami International Boat Show is the hero event for the US outboard engine manufacturers. It’s where anything new and innovative hitting the global market is showcased in front of the largest outboard engine market worldwide.

We have a pretty fair idea that after launching the V10 and V12 Verado engines, Mercury has more to come. There’s no direct replacement yet for the supercharged inline six-cylinder Mercury Racing 450R – Mercury has flagged the huffed engine’s life is coming to an end.

Mercury’s new V10 weighs 313kg, just 3.0kg more than the current 450R, so the writing is on the wall. Of course, Mercury built an all-new lower drive leg for the V10, so it can do the same for the re-propped and re-geared V10-based 450R.

What about Suzuki and Yamaha? Both have not yet responded to Mercury’s big displacement assault, but with boat engines based on blocks designed for road-going cars and even motorcycles, their ability to respond to Mercury is limited.

What is going to count against them, though, is that the limitations imposed by the automotive focus of each brand is going to limit their ability to challenge Mercury higher up in the performance range.

That leaves the mid- to high-performance engine category open for exploitation.

We should also see BRP’s innovative “outboard” sterndrive arrive on the Australian market. We were expecting to see this come last year powering a specially made line of Quintrex Freestyler X bowriders, but the local launch has been delayed for reasons yet to be made clear.

This is the year we’re likely to see a big push on the battery-fuelled front.

The mainstream revolution has already started with Mercury releasing the first of its Avator electric outboard motors, the 7.5e, with another two to come this year and the range extending to five by the end of 2024.

The Avator 7.5e is the equivalent of one of Mercury’s smallest outboard engines, the 85cc single-cylinder 3.5hp FourStroke.

No one has yet cracked the formula in the electric outboard motor space, so Mercury’s entry could be the litmus test for how willing the market is to accept it.

In bigger engines, Volvo Penta and Yanmar are taking a half-step towards electrification by pushing hydrogen fuel cell technology as an alternative to large-horsepower diesel-powered engines.

Slow-turning, torquey diesel engines are ideal for larger motor yachts, and replacing them with a fully electric system is not viable with limited battery technology holding development back.

However, this year the Sail GP foiling catamaran series will become a proving ground for how well hydrogen fuel cell technology that combines hydrogen fuel with oxygen from the atmosphere to produce electricity and water, adapts to the fast-paced, high-demand world of professional sailing.

Designers have had to think outside the box to create the type of vessel capable of keeping up with the 100kmh-plus Sail GP boats, indicating foils could soon be part of the extended cruising world.

An obvious space where electrification seems to be working is in slow-cruising catamarans, with plenty of flat surfaces dedicated to housing solar cells that feed a bank of batteries. Solar recharging, combined with wind and hydrogen fuel cell technology, could be a solution.

We’re also going to see the start of the move to replace onboard generators with banks of batteries. Lithium-ion technology is starting to gain enough energy density and electronic management to substitute a genset on smaller boats but is yet to make it into larger boats.

Diesel-electric hybrid drivetrains are also starting to become more widespread, offering the ability to cruise silently on battery power alone for short distances but still with the long-range performance of an ultra-efficient diesel drivetrain.

Marine safety appears set for an overhaul with a new generation of smarter safety devices that are far less intrusive, easier to use and cheaper than ever.

At the forefront of safety is the ability to integrate global positioning and even boat and personal names into ever-smaller devices such as emergency positioning and personal locator beacons.

It means that in an emergency, rescuers will be able to identify exactly what vessel they’re searching for, and with personal locator beacons, even the name of the people they’re trying to find.

As well, life jacket regulations are under scrutiny to make small boats – the ones that account for most of the distress calls – even safer, while in other jurisdictions technology is finally being dragged into the 21st century with plans to potentially replace inshore flares with other devices such as a VHF radio with digital select calling – you push one button on the radio and a distress call with your boat’s name and GPS location is broadcast to all other radios in range.

Boat technology is also making life onboard safer, with electronic engine cut-off systems replacing safety lanyards so that not just the skipper is protected if they go overboard.

A new generation of electronics is also just around the corner featuring car-like camera systems that can spot and automatically steer around hazards, with future systems also able to warn other boats approaching the area.

Expect to see some big steps taken on this front.

Boat engines have fully integrated with smartphones to the extent that owners are now able to monitor their boats from the comfort of their loungeroom at home. The more clever systems will even allow owners to fire up the boat’s air conditioning system before they arrive to step aboard at the marina.

What we want to see, though, is an era of connectivity that connects boats with one another. The ability to see a mate is out on the water, and guide them to your fishing hotspot, is something we can only dream of at this stage.

Volvo Penta has recently teased its vision of connected boats, showing a future where vessels can find each other and raft up without setting lines, with the boat’s onboard electronic brain keeping them a set distance apart.

That future includes a vision where people can decide to go out boating, pick out an activity such as day boating or fishing, book a boat, jump onboard and then let the boat’s autonomous functions do all the driving.

That said, it would still be nice to have an “off” switch so that if you ever wanted to drop off the grid and get away from things, you can. 

Could this be the year of the pontoon boat? The pandemic has opened boating to a whole generation of people who may not have considered it before lockdowns and staycations became the new normal.

Many of these people are first-timers to boat ownership, looking to extract as much family fun as they can. 

It’s why we’ve seen an uptick in hybrid boats, those types of vessels that, say, have a bow lounge up front, an icebox in between and a live bait tank down the back. These boats are capable of going fishing one day and enjoying a relaxed family day at a beach the next.

The makers of these boats are becoming much more efficient with space to the point that many now have enclosed spaces for toilets and to use as change rooms.

One of the best all-rounders that is yet to make any impact on the market are pontoon boats, but that could all be about to change.

The reason is the upcoming introduction to the Australian market of the Sea-Doo Switch, a sub-$100,000 pontoon boat powered by a jet ski engine and with handlebars to steer rather than a wheel.

These boats are as comfortable nudging up to the shoreline as they are crossing a lake or estuary, and include modular layouts so the owner can quickly and easily change the configuration to suit the day’s activities.

At the other end of the scale are pontoon boats such as those made by US brand Bennington, which builds fast, powerful and luxurious platforms to make the most of your time out on the water.

These are seriously quick and seaworthy vessels, able to reach a remote beach for that day trip of a lifetime.