Can Smarter Boats Win Over the Next Generation?
By: Koushik Paul
If you did not grow up boating but want to buy a boat, you may have different needs and expectations than those with a nautical background. Instead of horsepower or floorplan, you may be wondering whether you can dock the boat, or recognize and react to a warning on the dash, or keep up with the maintenance requirements without any experience.
These are problems that software can solve. Assisted controls, clearer displays, and phone-based monitoring will make a boat easier to understand and less demanding to own. That gives the industry a practical way to reach people who like the idea of boating but feel uncertain about taking charge of one.
Some recent predictions about the future of boating highlight increasingly connected systems. The next question is: what will those systems actually change for a new boater?
A useful starting point is the work they take off the owner’s plate.
Who the Next Generation Actually Is
NMMA’s 2023 audience research described its Growth segment as younger, more diverse, social, and comfortable with technology. It also found that this group felt the most overwhelmed by the boat-buying process. Familiarity with a smartphone clearly does not make someone familiar with boat ownership.
Newer Ipsos research gives that picture some numbers. Among surveyed owners, those who bought their primary boat after 2020 averaged about 36 years old, compared with 45 years old for those who bought before 2020. Recent buyers were more diverse and more likely to have entered boating through experiences such as rentals and charters. They also prioritized watersports and exploring new places. Reported charter and rental engagement among surveyed buyers rose from 17% in 2020 to 27% in 2024.
These are U.S. survey findings, not a census of boaters or proof that every younger buyer wants automation. But, they do suggest that an audience exists that may reach ownership through a different route than someone raised around boating.
Making the Helm Less Intimidating
Docking is a useful example because the benefit is easy to explain. Opearting at low speed, the captain must manage a boat’s direction while wind and current counteract the driving input.
Volvo Penta’s Assisted Docking system uses a joystick, GPS-based positioning, and integrated propulsion controls. The captain chooses the direction and speed. Software calculates steering angles and thrust, then adjusts them to help the boat follow that intention. The captain remains at the helm and in control, with overriding capability.
For a new boater, the attraction is having fewer corrections to juggle while learning how the boat responds and operates. However, it still requires compatible equipment and instruction. A first-time buyer should be shown exactly what the system handles, how to take over, and where its limits are. But the appeal is in the simplifying of the process.
Navigation software can also help with another unfamiliar task: planning a route. Garmin’s Auto Guidance+ calculates suggested paths using chart data and settings like preferred depth and vertical clearance. Garmin warns that these paths do not guarantee obstacle or bottom clearance, meaning the operator still has to assess conditions and watch the water.
That is a sensible model for smart boating, and one that is likely to continue to evolve. Let software organize information and assist with demanding tasks, while keeping the person responsible for the boat involved and informed.
Making Ownership Easier Between Trips
Some less dramatic software features may prove just as useful. A common situation occurs with an owner who keeps a boat away from their home but wants to know whether it is ready for the weekend, rather than discovering a problem after arriving at the marina.
Yamaha’s Siren Connected Boat app brings maintenance records, service reminders, manuals, and how-to videos onto a smartphone. With the appropriate onboard device and sensors, it can also monitor conditions such as battery voltage and high water, track location, and send security alerts. Some functions require an active plan.
A battery alert gives an owner something specific to investigate before their next trip. A maintenance record can make the service conversation easier. Neither feature repairs the boat, but both can reduce the guesswork surrounding what the problem is and how to fix it.
Garmin’s digital switching systems address the controls themselves. Compatible equipment can bring lights, pumps, and other circuits onto a helm display. Garmin also describes options for retaining physical controls as backups. Remote OnDeck monitoring requires a subscription and connectivity at both the boat and the user’s device.
The design matters as much as the feature list. A screen that clearly identifies a circuit and its status is useful. A screen that hides a basic function several menus deep can create a new problem. Owners should be able to understand an alert and find the next action without becoming electronics specialists.
Affordability Still Comes First
As promising as it is, software has limits as a recruitment tool for new boaters. The Ipsos findings identify cost as the biggest barrier for prospective buyers, followed by lack of knowledge and logistical concerns. Easier controls cannot make an unaffordable boat affordable.
For a buyer comparing boats, the useful price is the cost of the working setup. That includes any required sensors, installation, subscriptions, and chart services. Dealers should demonstrate the system that comes with the quoted boat and explain which features cost extra. This provides the total working setup cost.
There is also an opportunity in boats people already own. Data suggests brand loyalty among recreational boaters isn't strong, particularly among used boat buyers. Estimates suggest than a fifth of repeat boat buyers return to the same brand a second time.
For manufacturers, a well-supported retrofit or a useful service app could help maintain a relationship between purchases. For younger buyers shopping used, it could make some connected features available without requiring a new boat. Compatibility and the installed price will decide whether that is a realistic option.
What Would Actually Win Them Over
A useful demonstration should start with an ordinary day on the water. Show a new boater how to check the boat before leaving the dock, understand the helm, plan a trip, and return to the dock. Then show what happens when an alert appears or a connection drops.
That approach gives the technology a clear purpose. It also leaves room for hands-on instruction and a dealer who answers questions after delivery.
Smarter boats can help attract the next generation if they make the experience easier to learn and easier to repeat. The strongest selling point may be the confidence to invite friends out again next weekend, knowing what the boat needs and how to handle it.
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