The Volvo Penta Assisted Docking System is the winner of the Dame Award 2021 that opened the Metstrade show this week.
The Volvo Penta Assisted Docking System works with the company’s proven IPS propulsion drives to provide hitherto unknown levels of fine manoeuvring control in motor yachts, with the ability to take wind and current into account. It is easily operated via a joystick controller, even by a novice user of a motor yacht. Its Glass Cockpit System assists situational awareness. If the person at the helm needs more time to think, they can take their hand off the joystick and the boat holds its precise position until the control is touched again.
In reaching its decision, the DAME Jury recognised the Assisted Docking solution is the result of much research, development and extensive software and hardware design. The system is intuitive to use but Volvo Penta obviously paid attention to more than core function and innovation. For example, the ergonomics and aesthetics of the hand controller provide a feeling of confidence in the system even before you use it.
Great design has a critical role to play in bringing new people into boating. Volvo Penta’s Assisted Docking is a welcome development to address changing market landscapes where boating needs to become less difficult and more accessible.
Commenting on the result, Chair of the DAME Jury, Andre Hoek stated: “The world has changed in so many ways since we last physically gathered as a Jury in 2019. “Pandemic restrictions have greatly heightened our appreciation of the environment. The lifestyle benefits of marine leisure are drawing in a whole new generation in a way that we could not have imagined just two years ago”.
