Annual NMEA marine electronics awards

The American marine electronics industry has once again bestowed its prestigious product awards at the annual National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) International Marine Electronics Conference & Expo, which was this year held in Florida from September 20-22.

More than 450 leading marine electronics manufacturers, dealers, distributors, media and others from around the world attended the three-day event. Top products were named for both the NMEA Product of Excellence Awards and the NMEA Technology Award.

NMEA members selected the Product of Excellence Award winners through an on-line voting process. There were 16 product categories this year, including three new ones: Commercial, Safety & Security, and Multimedia Entertainment.

The category of "Manufacturer of the Year, Support" went to Garmin for the second consecutive year. Garmin vice president of worldwide sales Dan Bartel said the coveted awards were the result of Garmin’s dedication to the marine industry.

"We are incredibly honoured and humbled to yet again be recognised as the Manufacturer of the Year by the NMEA and to have so many of our products and applications receive top honours," Bartel said.

"It’s a true testament to our continued commitment to design, manufacture, sell and support industry-leading products."

The 2016 NMEA Product of Excellence Award Winners include:
>> Autopilot—Garmin GHP Reactor
>> Satellite TV Antenna—KVH TracVision TV3
>> Multi-Function Display—Garmin GPSMAP 8624
>> AIS—Garmin AIS 600
>> Radar—Furuno DRS4D-NXT
>> NMEA 2000® Sensor—Actisense NGT-1
>> Fish Finder—Garmin GSD 26
>> Marine App-Aids to Navigation—Garmin BlueChart 2.0
>> Marine VHF Radio—Icom IC-M506
>> Marine App-Technical—Garmin Helm
>> Satellite Communications Antenna—KVH TracPhone V3-IP
>> Marine Camera—FLIR M618CS
>> Underwater Lights—Lumishore EOS SMX152
>> Multimedia Entertainment—Fusion AV750 Marine Stereo System
>> Commercial—Furuno FAR2117 IMO Radar
>> Safety & Security—ACR GlobalFIX V4 EPIRB

2016 NMEA Technology Award:
Furuno’s DRS4D-NXT Doppler solid-state radar took top honors in the 2016 NMEA Technology Award competition from among 10 nominated products.

The annual award scores new products based on innovation, benefit to boaters, practicality and value. An independent five-person panel of judges selected the winner. Judges included Certified Marine Electronics Technicians Don Ehrlich of Yachtronics, Brian Brousseau of Dockside Electronics and Dave Luce of Atlantic Marine Electronics, along with Editors Chris Woodward of Sport Fishing magazine and Jim Fullilove of Marine Electronics Journal.

"Our decision was not an easy one. We were impressed with the high quality and worthiness of all 10 entries," the judges said.

"We chose the Furuno NXT for several reasons. Its Doppler technology makes understanding the radar display easy for boaters — and enhances boating safety — by automatically and quickly tracking targets using ARPA and utilising Doppler to turn targets red if they’re threats, while indicating which direction they are heading.

"Beam width can be synthetically adjusted for maximum target separation, and the radar helps fishermen close in on the catch through its auto bird mode. The NXT’s compact 24-inch radome makes it suitable for a wide range of both power and sail boats and can be put aboard for a very reasonable price."

Mark Reedenauer, President & Executive Director of NMEA, said “On behalf of the entire NMEA membership, we congratulate all award category recipients. The membership voted and the turnout this year was better than 2015.

"The additional categories allowed manufacturers to get recognised who would not have been awarded in years past. We look forward to further improving and refining the awards process in 2017." More at www.nmea.org.