Advertisement

Salty Dashboards

Navico’s Information Display stands poised to disrupt helms aboard new builds.
Navico's Information Display system
Navico’s Information Display system gives boatbuilders a new way of integrating, monitoring and controlling instrumentation, switching and onboard systems. Courtesy Navico

Piloting a new car is easy, so why should stepping behind a new helm feel any different? This was Navico’s thinking when the manufacturer of the B&G, Lowrance and Simrad brands released its Information Display system, which gives boatbuilders a new way of integrating, monitoring and controlling all of a yacht’s instrumentation, switching and onboard systems.

Navico’s ID system includes a bonded, helm-mounted display (or multiple displays) and a centralized, belowdecks Integration Hub that allows the ID to talk to almost any onboard system or compatible onboard instrumentation using Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sonar, USB, CAN or NMEA 2000 connectivity. Also, while the ID is agnostic in terms of its ability to communicate with different onboard systems, it must be paired with a digital switching system to deliver full, systemwide integration.

The ID was designed for boatbuilders, not aftermarket customers. Because of this, the system’s display is available in a variety of semicustomizable form factors that allow boatbuilders to eliminate cluttered, mixed-brand helms in favor of an automotive-like interface that offers at-a-glance access to navigational and systems information. Each ID ships with the boatbuilder’s choice of B&G, Lowrance or Simrad software, and each ID features predefined operating modes (systems checks, anchoring, cruising and watersports) that offer self-populating contextual information based on a boater’s current activity.

Advertisement

“I don’t like it—I love it,” Augusto Aday says of his Information Display. “I can run three screens at once, and it gives me a touchscreen and control buttons.”

Once installed, users are presented with an intuitive interface and extensive real-time situational and operational information. And, provided that the system has internet connectivity—such as Navico’s new BoatConnect system—IDs can cloud-report instrument and systems data while allowing owners to monitor, track and control onboard systems from afar via an app.

Advertisement

Email Newsletters and Special Offers

Sign up for Boating emails to receive features on travel destinations, event listings and product reviews as well as special offers on behalf of Boating’s partners.

By signing up you agree to receive communications from Boating and select partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy. You may opt out of email messages/withdraw consent at any time.