The Last Fifty Feet, Handled: Simrad Puts Self-Docking Within Reach of the Everyday Owner

Ask any owner which part of a day on the water tightens their grip, and most won't name the inlet or the weather. They'll name the slip: the final approach, with a crosswind and the dock lines waiting. Simrad's answer is AutoCaptain, a system meant to bring a boat alongside without the skipper doing the maneuvering. It sees in depth through paired cameras and makes its decisions with software trained to read what those cameras see. It then steers through Mercury's joystick controls, the same helm interface many owners already use for close-quarters work. It's meant for the kind of boats that come off a builder's line, not for one-off custom builds. From Palm Beach to Naples, owners bring their boats back into a slip at the end of almost every outing, so a system aimed at that last stretch is aimed squarely at them.

With reporting from Yachting.