Raymarine's latest line up

Crisper sounders, big glass screens, new autopilots and more

Our first press conference at this year’s Sydney International Boat Show was held by Raymarine Australia and hosted by Ben Bowley, the MD who spent 14 previous years working with Apple.

Bowley walked the assembled media scrum through the new Raymarine product line-up that caters for all boaters, from those on a tight budget paddling a mere fishing 'yak to the big end of town coveting the latest and the lot.

By the time all the red drapes were whisked away and the kaleidoscope of colour screens were winking and chirping, the 2013 Raymarine product line up was replete.

A favourite with Australian boaters, Raymarine is very much a one-stop marine electronics shop these days. It's become evident the American-owned company has gone to great lengths to reaffirm its favourite status in 2013. This follows the purchase of Raymarine (while bankrupt) by FLIR in mid-2010 for US$180 million.

RAYMARINE HOOKS

A different marketing strategy has emerged and affordability -- but not at the expensive of performance -- is behind the brand’s expanding dash-print in what is a very competitive, creative and changeable world of marine electronics.

Ease of retrofitting in terms of outlay and installation adds to their appeal, while mobile compatibility via Bluetooth and Wi Fi are a big part of the pitch.

But the incredible definition of its radars and depth sounders from the latest digital brains is the real hook. And this coupled with logical menu operation, now called Lighthouse, easy driveability and push-button or touchscreen control, means just about anyone can get behind Raymarine's nav. units and drive them.

DEPTH SOUNDERS

The depth-sounder displays within the new “a” Series start at $749 for a stand-alone unit and range to the new super-sensitive Dragonfly 5.7in display with CHIRP sonar technology for under-$1000 including Navionics charts and transducer. A hot deal.

If deep-water depth sounding is your thing, the local Raymarine agents have tested a bunch on units offshore. The new CP100 fishfinder with CHIRP sonar and 1kW transducer easily paints a picture in 700 metres, we’re told, while the top-of-the-range CP450C CHIRP Broadband Sonar unit, with 12in display and 1kW transducer, retailing for almost $9K, gives strong bottom returns in 1400m of water.

MULTIFUNCTION DISPLAYS

The “a” Series includes a range of multifunction displays (MFDs) in 5.7in and 7in sizes, the “c” Series MFDs comes in 9in and 12in, while the “e” Series are available in 7, 9, 12 and 15.4in displays and with Hybrid touch screens. Both “c” and “e” series come in wide-screen variants, have optional “apps” for downloading and special bezels for smart in-dash refits.

GLASS BRIDGE

The flagship “gS” Glass Bridge Series is something else again. The smart flush glass screens come in 9.7, 12.3 and 15in sizes, serve every multifunction nav function imaginable, not to mention TV/AV input and Wi FI, and there’s a cool optional remote keypad for full control of single or multiple glass displays from a remote location, ie, the armrest of your helm chair. No more having to lean forward to tweak the screens.

NIGHT VISION

Of course, there’s a bunch of FLIR cameras starting in price from a very reasonable $4K and ending up around $40K for a fully stabilised commercial unit. Full integration with the Raymarine MFDs and excellent night vision displays are appealing to serious cruising folk plying the coast in their pilothouse motoryachts.

But in terms of Raymarine’s past, autopilots are everything…

EVOLUTION AUTOPILOT

Raymarine has a revolutionary new Evolution autopilot that uses a solid-state nine-axis 3D system that’s said to giver superfast, ultimately perfect heading and handling in all conditions.

The unit is also self-calibrating, therefore a snap to install, suitable for boats from small cruisers to large yachts and motorcruisers, using mechanical, hydraulic or fly-by-wire steering.

The algorithms used in the Evolution pilots are said to hail from the aerospace industry. On the water, greater piloting precision means less fuel burn. The new Evolution looks very impressive.

BAR CRUSHER DEMO

Raymarine Australia also had a Bar Crusher 670HT demonstrator in the halls at Sydney boat show loaded with a bunch of kit ranging from twin MFDs to the new Evolution autopilot, four depth sounder units, doubtless a VHF radio, and more.

Watch this space for our reviews and runs with what is a reborn Raymarine following its acquisition by FLIR just three years ago.

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Raymarine's latest line up

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