Keeping everyone safe with Mercury’s 1st Mate
Mercury’s 1st Mate system can watch over you, your family and crew, and your boatBoats are made for family fun. Long, lazy days spent out on the water create memories with friends and family that can be enjoyed long after the sun has gone down, and your boat is back on the trailer.
What makes the day even better is the peace of mind you get knowing that you and everyone on board is protected with cutting-edge wearable technology.
This is where Mercury’s 1st Mate comes in.
Family first
Developed with family boaters in mind, Mercury 1st Mate combines a man overboard detection and alert system with an anti-theft and engine immobiliser functionality that will add an extra layer of security to your craft.
Simply, Mercury 1st Mate is built around an intelligent hub that can keep track of everyone on a boat.
It ties in your boat with smartphone alerts, and a series of wearable tags in fob and wrist-watch form, to provide one of the most comprehensive, portable and easy to use man overboard safety systems on the water.
Mercury 1st Mate can kill the engine if someone falls out of the boat, use your phone to send out alert messages with precise coordinates, and act as an anti-theft deterrent and lock your engine so it can’t be started – even if you mistakenly leave the keys in the ignition.
Mercury 1st Mate is compatible with any outboard engine system equipped with Mercury’s SmartCraft network. And you can option it when you buy your boat, or retro-fitted to an existing compatible Mercury outboard-powered vessel.
How does it work?
At the heart of the Mercury 1st Mate system is outboard engine technologies that are infinitely more sophisticated and intelligent than those of even a decade ago.
Adapting similar thinking to the automotive world, modern-day outboard engines are fully digitised -- meaning they can start, move their throttle, shift in and out of gears and even steer using fly-by-wire technology. That’s right wires – not cables!
This technology allows Mercury to integrate a Mercury 1st Mate hub with the ability to locate the craft and if necessary stop the engine.
The hub is located adjacent to the helm of the boat and is the core of the system, linking your smartphone via the Mercury 1st Mate app, a captain’s fob that can control the Mercury 1st Mate system remotely, and up to six more low-range radio frequency identification (RFID) tags that can clip into a wristwatch-style holder, onto lifejackets or clothing or even onto a pet’s collar.
Smart system
Activating buttons or losing contact with the wrist-worn controller or any of the Mercury 1st Mate fobs sees the technology use both your smartphone and the boat’s engine management system to control what happens next.
Just say a passenger falls overboard as you’re travelling. Once the Mercury 1st Mate hub loses contact with the RFID device that the crew member is wearing, it instantly sounds an alarm and alerts the skipper.
The skipper can take action to rescue the crew member. Or in poor visibility or other compromised conditions, even use the Mercury1st Mate smartphone app to find the location that the crew member and fob went overboard.
If the skipper goes overboard while wearing the captain’s fob, it’s a different sequence.
As well as cutting the engine, the Mercury1st Mate system will alert connected crew members of the skipper’s position.
If he or she can’t be easily recovered, based on a time specified by the user when setting up the app, the smartphone linked to Mercury1st Mate will send out a text message or email with GPS coordinates to the emergency contacts you’ve nominated.
The obvious application here is for many of us who are boating solo. With Mercury 1st Mate, even when you’re out alone, someone is always watching your back.
Beating the thieves
An important additional benefit of the Mercury 1st Mate system is its anti-theft deterrents.
Whether your boat is on the water or the trailer; and whether you’re away from it for a long time or a short time, the Mercury 1st Mate system delivers the ability to immobilise your engine and prevent it from being started.
This can be activated via one of the Mercury 1st Mate fobs or your smartphone – in the case of the former, literally at the push of a button.
A great, safe day on the water
Nobody wants a great day boating to go wrong. Fact is, however, conditions can change quickly and safety should be a key consideration every time you hit the water.
The Mercury 1st Mate system protects your family, friends and your hard-earned assets. Using the latest technology puts confidence in the palm of your hand – and on your wrist!
For more information visit https://www.mercurymarine.com/en-gb/au/land/anzp-1st-mate/
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