Mar 11, 2025

This week we wanted to put a positive spin on the Editor’s Message by turning the spotlight on a selection of new products that our industry has introduced at the winter boat shows. It’s been a busy season!

One of the earliest and largest boat shows was “boot” Dusseldorf that opened January 18^th as did the Toronto International Boat Show. The Vancouver International Boat Show opened January 29^th while the Seattle show was January 31^st and the one that probably attracted the most new products was the Discover Boating Miami Boat Show on February 12^th. In Montreal we had the Salon du bateau du Montreal opening on February 20^th. And, those are just the more notable Canadian and American shows. So, we went back three months to showcase what we felt were a dozen of the more significant new product and industry announcements that made their debut at these early-year shows.

Mainly, we are seeing new designs and technological advances that are created to make boating better; easier, safer, more enjoyable and with that dazzle of new product innovation. Broadly we are seeing a steady advance toward various forms of assistance, especially for docking and navigation.

The marine electronics companies are bringing out sensational products for navigation and also, for fishing. In fact, some of these are so good that we have seen a few tournaments actually banning some of the latest fishfinders!

For passenger comfort, both Dometic and Smartgyro have introduced gyro stabilizer systems. This isn’t new, but SeaKeeper seemed to have the market to itself for quite a time. Now new products are opening things up. If you have not experienced a gyro-equipped boat you might be in for a positive surprise!

We also included the ABYC Revised Gasoline Petrol Fuel System Standard because everyone should know about the safety and environmental advances that brings.

Have a look at this gallery of great ideas and consider how these new products can benefit your business!

Andy Adams – Editor