New Boston Whaler Boats: choice of electronics brand

[jimh]

I noticed recently that Boston Whaler was bragging a bit about the technical sophistication of their newest boats, 350 Realm and 380 Realm luxury express cabin cruisers, the 280 Dauntless center console bay boat, and the 360 Outrage offshore fishing boat.

Cf.: https://www.bostonwhaler.com/navigator- ... ology.html

For the principal navigation chart plotter and SONAR, they have chosen the SIMRAD NSOevo3S "Navigation System." There are many quite amazing new marine electronic displays, chart plotters, and SONAR devices available from other manufacturers, such as GARMIN or RAYMARINE. The choice of SIMRAD might be seen as an endorsement for the brand by Boston Whaler.

There are other considerations in play here. One should remember that Boston Whaler is just an operating division of Brunswick. And so is SIMRAD.

[Jefecinco]

We had a Simrad plotter connected to our VHF/AIS and Verado engine outputs on our 190 Montauk. It was a very nice system and we found it to be reliable.

We see mostly Furuno or Raymarine systems on larger vessels where budgets seem to be much higher.

[jimh]

We see mostly Furuno or Raymarine systems on larger vessels where budgets seem to be much higher.

Yes, FURUNO and RAYMARINE seem more common for professional or very-high-end recreational use, but NAVICO (or Lowrance) works for me. On these very large Boston Whaler boats, the electronics cost more than my boat did.

[GoldenDaze]

The opinion of Boston Whaler appears to be "Raymarine is the best, until we bought Simrad." Not that I'm doubting Simrad equipment, which also seems to have a great reputation (as does Garmin). It's just business.