BMEA

In the Western world, nautical charts date back to before the 1600s.  It is thought that the Danes were the first to undertake formal nautical charting, ordering a complete survey of the country’s 500 islands and 7,000 km long coastline, and appointing a Director of Nautical Charts as early as 1689. 

Today’s modern boater is more than aware of the benefits of traditional charts, and few boats venture out without several portfolios of paper charts.  But, in reality, with modern electronics now commonplace on boats of almost every size, the majority of people turn straight to their electronic chartplotter for information.

Electronic charting has developed rapidly over the last 30 years, and today the chartplotter provides one element of the information available from an integrated multifunction navigation, entertainment, communication and safety data display.

Whilst the majority of boaters have learned how to navigate using traditional methods – with paper charts and dividers – the challenge for today’s electronics manufacturers is to provide a chartplotter which is not only easy to use, but can provide user access to all the sophisticated information available from the chart data, enable integration between charts, radar, AIS and autopilot and other onboard data – and yet still be incredibly easy to use and quick to install.

Raymarine was one of the first marine electronics manufacturers to offer fully integrated multi function displays, and the launch of the new E series Widescreen revealed an entirely new screen format and user interface to the market.  Andy King, Director of Sales and Marketing for Raymarine UK Ltd, said the product development path was two-fold.  “Our market research and feedback was that the traditional shape of the multifunction display was not always suited to modern cockpits, and that a wide-screen shape was preferred. 

Secondly, while touch screen was becoming more commonly available, it was not felt to be a totally reliable single option for the types of extreme use that our products face, day in day out, year after year.” 

In the industry, user complaints against competitor’s touch screen products were numerous, stating it was hard to pinpoint exact positions on the screen in rough weather, or with cold hands or wearing gloves, and unfamiliarity of use made operation hard without clearly marked keys and buttons.  “On the other hand,” continues King, “familiarity with i-phones and other personal computers and organisers means that more people are using touch screen technology in their daily life.  It’s quick and easy to use, in fine weather and calm conditions, or when route planning.”

Pioneering product development behind the scenes led Raymarine to launch its ground-breaking E Series Widescreen HybridTouch™ ready for the 2010 season.  Behind the elegant simplicity of providing the obvious solution – a multifunction device that enabled users to switch between touch screen and hard keys – lies an innovative user interface, which has made the E Series HybridTouch a hugely successful product in Raymarine’s portfolio.   And this popularity comes not only from the user, and the buyer, but also from the OEM and the dealer.

So what are the ingredients that have contributed to this success?  “There are three key elements for the consumer” says Andy Davies, Raymarine’s UK and Ireland Sales Manager, ”The wide screen format, the HybridTouch option for operation and the sophisticated user interface.  But there’s also a fourth vital element, which is much more relevant to the dealer – it’s easy to install!”

For those working in marine electronics sales and installation, it’s the combination of these elements which are uppermost in the mind when advising on product suitability and fit.  OEMs such as Discovery Yachts and Sunseeker have chosen the E Series HybridTouch because it offers reliability, ease of use, a worldwide support network and a fully integrated, intuitive to use system. 

Raymarine product manager Steve Crane explains, “The user interface on the E Series HybridTouch is incredibly important as a factor to its success.  Modern marine electronics are often accused of being too complicated to use, as there are so many features and functions available.  But on the E Series HybridTouch we’ve built in user language options, tutorials, visually dynamic graphics, intuitive menus, page customisation and quick help functions.” 

And the users like this.  With many people only being able to enjoy using their boats on an infrequent basis, getting up to speed quickly with chartplotter functions has to be intuitive and fast – not everyone has a tech-savvy youngster on board 24 hours a day.
 
Even the most experienced of commercial users state that the intuitive user interface is a key deciding factor when choosing which chartplotter to use.  Simon Coleman of Boat Electrics and Electronics has recently fitted Raymarine systems on the South Boats contract for Turbine Transfers, which manages a fleet of boats shipping personnel and suppliers on a 24/7 rota to offshore wind farms.  He says Raymarine’s pedigree in the commercial sector assures leisure users that they have the best and most reliable equipment on board, while a specific requirement for the skippers was that the bridge systems could be quickly and easily personalised.  Working on a rota means that skippers switch between boats, and often want to set up screen views and specific data to suit their individual requirements.  Coleman also likes the fact that Raymarine equipment is easy to install.  “The integration is excellent, and you really can take it out of the box, install, power on and you’re good to go.”