Connected boats were the focus of the first part of the event.

Mirna Cieniewicz (Beneteau Group) and Wavier Desmarests (Outremer Yachting) discussed the different aspects of connected boats, from hardware and collection of data to exploitation of data. They reminded the need to address not only connectivity but also the security of the data and the maintenance and services aspects.

Teddy Sant (Navico) and Yannick Perrigot (WE ARE NINA) explained that customers, now used to a certain comfort and connectivity on land (for instance with cars), were becoming more demanding at sea. They gave several examples of how new technologies were modifying boating. Such an evolution required the whole value chain to work together in order to fully embrace the new possibilities.

The second part of the conference focused on marinas.

Stéphanie de Bazelaire and Stéphane Millot (R Marina, S2F Network) and Jean-Michel Gaigné (TransEurope Marinas) presented the way in which marinas could use new technologies and other innovations to attract more people. The customer was here again at the heart of this revolution, but it could also significantly improve the daily operations.

All speakers underlined the importance of security and comfort on board, which were the main areas of work. One of the recent development was the fact that the whole industry (boat builders, equipment manufacturers and marinas), traditionally working separately, were more and more willing to do so together in the common objective of improving the customers’ experience. This collaboration and change of culture is in itself an innovation which will benefit all stakeholders.

Sébastien Milcendeau (Fédération des Industries Nautiques) and Sandrine Devos (European Boating Industry) concluded the event by opening the theme of innovation to two related topics: the efforts of the Fédération des Industries Nautiques to address the new trends of the sector in a collaborative approach through the “Nauticlab” (https://nauticlab.fr), and the need for the European boating industry to look carefully at the best ways to attract people on boats.