RAYMARINE DOCKSENSE
Raymarine’s Docksense system and its virtual fender is designed to banish berthing nerves, but does it do the trick? We find out...
We test this clever new berthing aid to see if does stop you hitting anything
Most boaters would admit that berthing is the most difficult aspect of driving a boat.
That moment at the end of a cruise when a crowd has amassed, the tide is running, the wind is blowing and the narrow square of water you’re aiming for looks smaller than ever. We’ve heard too many stories of people becoming so anxious about this element of helming that the boat sits unused and becomes a source of anguish, not enjoyment.
As we reported back in March the Docksense system from Raymarine intends to banish those cold-sweat berthing moments and take the stress and strain out of close quarters manoeuvring. At the time it all sounded a little too good to be true but now we have used the system ourselves on Raymarine’s Ips600powered Prestige 460 we can reveal whether it lives up to the promises.
First though, a refresher on how this system
works. Raymarine has utilised the technology of its parent company FLIR and marinised its stereo machine cameras, which are usually used to count people in and out of shopping centres! It has added a waterproof housing with automated covers to protect the cameras when not in use and heated lenses to remove moisture. The cameras look clunky on this prototype installation but once adopted by boat builders the integration should be more aesthetically pleasing.
Up to five cameras need to be installed around the boat (two on the bow, two amidships and one astern) and they build a 3D picture of the boat’s surroundings, picking up any object that is over 40cm above the surface of the water.
Raymarine says the cameras will even pick up Med-style ground lines if they are thick enough. This information and a GPS feed that monitors the boat’s motion is fed back to the Docksense processer and displayed via a dedicated app on the Axiom MFD. This screen shows a radar-style overhead view of the boat and its surroundings as well as a video stream from each camera.
The virtual fender can be set at a chosen perimeter (usually 1m) and, if at risk of being encroached on by a pontoon, pile or neighbouring boat for example, Docksense will slow the boat and bring it to a controlled stop at the point where said object touches the edge of the virtual fender.
PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE
The system will also take account of wind and tide and can be installed on any boat with a joystick be that IPS, sterndrives, outboards or a twin-engine shaftdrive boat with bow and sternthrusters. Unlike Volvo Penta’s self-parking technology Docksense doesn’t require sensors on the quayside to work and, crucially, the helmsman is still physically berthing the boat albeit with the fallback of the virtual fender to avoid any bumps.
That’s the theory but what happens in practice? Docksense is activated via the MFD and not the joystick because, as Raymarine puts it, the system is ‘joystick agnostic’ so couldn’t be designed with one particular manufacturer in mind. Once it’s engaged it immediately holds the boat’s current position so when the joystick is released the boat doesn’t move. In this way it’s similar to Volvo’s Dynamic Positioning System or Cummins Sky Hook but you don’t need to activate it, just release the joystick and Docksense juggles the props (and thrusters if needed) to hold station. It’s more accurate too; Volvo claims DPS will hold the boat within 2m of a set position – Docksense is less then 0.5m. This alone takes a lot of stress out of a berthing scenario because you know that if it all becomes too difficult you can just let go of the joystick and the boat will stay still.
Now it’s time to berth. The inputs are slower than standard IPS – especially the twist function – because Docksense maintains your heading, but it doesn’t take long to get used to this. The berth I’m attempting to enter is a U-shaped slip which I approach stern-to. The virtual fender is set at 1m to give us as much protection as possible on the way in but this can be decreased via the MFD once in so it’s easier for crew to step off. Following instructions from the Raymarine team I pull the joystick hard astern and reverse into the berth. This goes against everything I’ve been taught as a helmsman and the temptation to gently feather the power in is hard to resist. I stick with it though and trust the technology as the joystick remains firmly pinned astern.
I refer to the MFD screen, not feeling the need to look around and check proximity to the pontoons as I can see via the bird’s eye view and video feed that we are closing in on the
pontoon across our stern. Sure enough, the boat comes to a steady halt; I glance down and realise that I still have the joystick pulled back. I let go and the boat holds itself, using the pods to keep us 1m way from the pontoons on all sides. I take a moment and chuckle at what I’ve just experienced. Surely it can’t be this easy?
I go out and try it again, this time we get too close to the port-side pontoon so the boat stops until I nudge us to starboard and give 1m grace to port and head astern again. This is really clever stuff and it all feels so natural. I am surprised by how quickly I feel comfortable relying on the MFD but the user interface is very good. You get a cone-shaped dial to show you where the engine thrust is coming from and how much power is being used. Back in the berth I reduce the virtual fender to 0.5m and pull back on the joystick so that the crew can get close enough to step off.
GAME-CHANGER?
There is a version of the system called Alert that works more like a car’s parking camera with visual alerts of obstacles but no ability to take control of the propulsion method.
This version is cheaper than the full works Control option, which will be roughly £20,000-£25,000 once in production, but it’s not as impressive or as useful.
No matter how impressive the technology is, it’s not a replacement for knowing how to handle a boat in the traditional way. It would be unwise to rely solely on a system like this without knowing how to manoeuvre a boat manually when necessary. However, much like when IPS arrived, this feels like a pivotal moment. The advent of joysticks made handling a boat more intuitive than ever but this technology adds a digital safety net that genuinely removes the element of panic from a stressful berthing scenario.
In our book anything that makes boats easier to handle and accessible to more people is a good thing, and Docksense does that better than any technology that we have tested to date. CONTACT www.raymarine.co.uk