New Platform enables UK's Power and Sail Boat Owners To Keep Tabs on their Boats

by VirCru 28 Oct 2021 15:33 BST

As Sales Soar, a New Platform Enables UK's Power and Sail Boat Owners To Keep Tabs on their Boats from the Comfort of their Couches. Telemetry Expert launches the marine industry's first low-cost, high-tech remote monitoring and control platform.

Following the UK's staycation-fuelled boat sale boom (+9% Year on Year in 2020*) and with more than 40% of owners living further than 50 miles from their yachts**, VirCru launches onto the scene to save the booming number of boat owners both money and time maintaining their vessels.

The remote monitoring and control platform provides power and sailboat owners a 'Virtual Crew' that helps put any worries to rest by enabling them to keep tabs on their boat systems from the comfort of their own homes, regardless of where they live.

When something changes on board, the owner is informed via a notification from the VirCru app on their phone and then is able to easily take action. VirCru features include:

• Onboard sensors that send battery power, water levels, bilge pump activity (and more) data to the owner's phone in real-time, regardless of where they are.
• Custom GeoFencing capability from 1m to 100m - helps owners keep tabs on their boat's whereabouts at all times, sending an alert through if any unusual movement is detected.
• Security alerts that notify the owner if any door, cabin, hatch or window is opened or any equipment taken.
• Remote control and management of appliances wired to the owner's boat battery e.g. being able to turn on the fridge so refreshments have time to cool prior to the owner's arrival
• Inventory Management System that collates all the boat's documents, records, and details in one place e.g. dates for the next routine lifejacket, life raft, and fire extinguisher checks and boat insurance documents.

The system comes with a set of easily installable sensors and a hub that can monitor a variety of elements including GPS positioning, anchor drag alarm, boat listing, antenna connections, temperature probe, DC switch, intruder alert and smoke, gas, humidity, and carbon monoxide detection. The number of sensors installed can vary depending on the owner's requirements.

VirCru is battery-powered giving owners the flexibility on where they choose to moor. Coupled with a guaranteed battery life of 10 years for the sensors and 3 years for the hub, owners won't be stuck high and dry.

Although VirCru can be used by any power or sailboat owner, it will prove particularly useful for boat owners who:

• Keep their boats on swinging moorings wanting to monitor their boats at the fraction of the cost of a marina mooring
• Keep their boats in marinas and want a more in-depth internal system monitoring whilst also ensuring their boat is immediately ready for use on arrival thanks to being able to remotely control comfort systems such as shore power, fridges and heating.

Founder, entrepreneur, engineer and telemetry expert, Tristan Dargay, is a boat owner himself. When buying his first boat, he discovered there were no affordable, low-maintenance, high-tech solutions on the market:

"As an enthusiastic boat owner, there were three things that kept me up at night: whether the isolator was off, if I'd closed the hatches, and would the fridge be cold enough. I was driven by a simple desire to ensure owners can alleviate any worries associated with keeping a boat without forking out a small fortune, even if living further away. I felt I could achieve all these by creating VirCru."

Prices range from £399 for the starter package of a Hub, Sensor and Tag which will give a base level of monitoring - location, main battery voltage, anchor drag, boat listing, flood, door sensor, cabin temperature and bilge alarm. Then it is only a £10 monthly subscription to run the monitoring system on the app.

For more information or to pre order your VirCru package (sign up available from 26th October), visit www.vircru.com

* britishmarine.co.uk/News/2021/March/A-rising-tide-of-boat-sales-in-2020-helps-lift-the-UK-marine-industry
** forums.ybw.com/index.php?threads/how-far-do-you-live-from-your-boat.539870