AIS Watchmate - simply for sailors

10:13 PM Mon 29 Jun 2009 GMT

'Vesper crew Jeff Robbins and Deirdre Schleigh' .

A collision with a ship at sea is one of the cruising sailor's worst nightmares.

While AIS technology has revolutionised one's ability to locate and identify most vessels that could be of danger, the interpretation of the technology into a simple solution, JUST FOR SAILORS, was left, by default, to two off-shore sailors Jeff Robbins and Deirdre Schleigh.

'Safety is too important to be complicated and buried deep in the menus of today's complex marine electronics', says Robbins. When operating in stressful or crowded circumstances, potentially fatigued crew are faced with critical decision-making and need concise, pertinent information relating to the situation at hand.'

Cruising sailors on long passages out of the shipping lanes also know the danger of getting too confident about believing they are alone in their part of the ocean.

While there were existing products on the market, the couple say most were clumsy to use and unhelpful because of information clutter. As well, they often incorporated GPS data, depth sounders, radars and fish finders, and most were heavy power users.

Robbins and Schleigh wanted a a product that was simple and useful. They cite the example of a sailing neighbour who could not use the chart plotter on his new boat without first attending an induction seminar.

AISWatchMate- simple display - .. .

'For us it was a no-brainer - the system had to be a single-screen solution with a single focus as an early warning system. It is fair to say that this is the only product of its kind in the world,' says Robbins, a former software writer who together with Schleigh founded their company, Vesper Marine, just over a year ago.

Schleigh says: 'We looked at what's out there. We realised they weren't smart, weren't useful. With AISWatchmate, you know miles in advance when danger is close, and it provides any yachtie - or other boater - with a simple easy-to-interpret tool to help avoid collisions at sea.'

Vesper Marine - named after Vesper their yacht, here at anchor. photo by Jeff Robbins - .. .

It is a well thought-out solution and easily plugged into a yacht. A key advantage always welcomed by the cruising sailor is that the AISWatchmate can be used without running down major power supplies. The solution that robbins and Schleigh have created means that that the product only raises alarms of real concern.

In 2007 the couple took their prototype on a trip where its robustness was put to the test. At one point it was keeping tabs on 124 ships, of which only five proved to be of real concern.

The marine industry was quick to recognise a good design for the cruising sailor when they saw one, and Vesper Marine has won the Enatel Innovative hardware Product Award for 2009, as well as the Freeman K. Pittman Innovation Award earlier this year, and US boating magazine SAIL's innovation award.

The company, which is named after the couple's 40ft yacht Vesper, now has resellers in 15 countries round the world, an amazing result for a company little more than a year old.

For more information, contact Vesper Marine.

by Blackwattle Studios