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Docks and Accessories Clothing Electronics* Exterior upgrades Featured Posts Featured Posts 2025 Gear* Interior Upgrades Life Style * Products*The 10 Must-Have Powerboat Gear Items of 2026
From AI systems that dock your boat for you to fuel sensors that can save your engine mid-run, this year’s crop of powerboat gear is the smartest, most connected — and most genuinely useful — the industry has ever produced. Here are the ten items earning their spot on the water this season.
SEA.AI WATCHKEEPER
AI Collision AvoidanceRadar catches most of what’s out there — but not the half-submerged container, the unlit dinghy, or the swimmer just beyond the bow wake. SEA.AI’s Watchkeeper fills that gap with a continuously running AI that draws on a proprietary database of millions of annotated marine objects to detect and classify hazards your instruments might miss. The system — derived from SEA.AI’s OSCAR technology, proven in IMOCA offshore racing
— processes real-time data from ultra-wide 4K low-light cameras and, on higher-tier configurations, long-wave infrared thermal imaging. When a threat is flagged, escalating audible alarms fire alongside on-screen alerts on compatible MFDs and smartphones. Available in seven configurations to suit everything from a 25-foot centre console to a 60-foot express cruiser, Watchkeeper makes 24-hour situational awareness affordable for the first time. Entry-level pricing starts at $4,990 USD; thermal configurations run to just under $26,000. Software subscriptions apply after year one. For more information, visit www.sea.ai.
SIMRAD AUTOCAPTAIN
Autonomous Docking SystemPicture the most white-knuckle moment of any day on the water: pulling into a crowded marina with a crosswind pushing hard off the dock. Now picture the boat doing it for you. Simrad’s AutoCaptain — three years in development and the centrepiece of Brunswick’s ACES strategy — is the first commercially available system to deliver true autonomous docking, undocking, and short-distance marina maneuvering. Working through six 3D stereo cameras mounted around the boat’s perimeter and tight integration with Mercury Marine propulsion and joystick controls, the skipper simply taps the Simrad display to mark the berth, presses the autodock button, and lets the system handle it. AutoCaptain compensates in real time for wind, current, and above-water obstacles like pilings, docks, and passing vessels. The skipper remains in full command and can override at any moment, and the system is honest about its limits — it does not detect shallow water or submerged hazards. Currently factory-integrated into the Boston Whaler 405 Conquest (adding approximately $120,000 CAD to the build), with broader OEM rollout to follow. For more information, visit
www.simrad-yachting.com.
DOMETIC CSX SERIES
Cold Machine RefrigerationEvery boat built in the last decade has unused insulated spaces going to waste — a fish box that only gets used twice a season, a storage locker too awkward for provisions, a compartment the builder left blank. Dometic’s CSX Series Cold Machine turns any of them into a fully functioning refrigerator or freezer without complicated installation. Everything that normally has to be plumbed in separately — compressor, fan-cooled evaporator, digital controls, automatic defrost — comes sealed into one drop-in box that bolts to a wall, so there’s no remote compressor hiding somewhere else in the boat and nothing to charge with refrigerant on site. The refrigerant itself is the low-GWP R1234yf, which keeps the unit compliant as regulations tighten elsewhere in the industry, and Dometic puts the power draw at roughly 15 percent below comparable units on the market. The lineup spans 60L to 400L: the CSX200 and CSX400 run as straight refrigeration, while the CSX150FZ is built to hold a hard freeze. It took home the 2025 IBEX Innovation Award and retails at $999 USD. For more information, visit www.dometic.com.
GARMIN ONBOARD
Wireless MOB & Engine CutoffThe traditional engine cut-off lanyard has one well-known failure mode: someone wanders too far from the helm mid-run and kills the engine by accident. Garmin’s OnBoard fixes that by ditching the cord entirely. Small waterproof transmitters — clippable to a belt, a wrist, or a life jacket — pair wirelessly with a compatible ECHOMAP or GPSMAP chartplotter, with each one assigned a role before the boat ever leaves the dock. Tag the captain, and an overboard event triggers everything at once: engines cut, a position drops onto the chart, and an alarm sounds, all without anyone touching a button. Tag a passenger or a kid instead, and the same alarm and waypoint fire, but the engines keep running so the boat stays maneuverable for the rescue. Up to eight tags can run at once, which covers a full crew (and the family dog, if it ever decides to test the theory). Garmin built in a swim-mode override so the tags don’t trigger a false alarm every time someone jumps off the bow for a midday dip. The system satisfies the federal Engine Cutoff Link requirement on its own, no separate lanyard needed, and it took home the 2025 DAME Design Award for Safety and Security. Retail runs $499.99 USD, with extra tags at $149.99 each. For more information, visit www.garmin.com/marine.
WIF-PRO
Water-in-fuel Detection SystemWater-contaminated fuel is one of the most common and most preventable causes of engine failure on the water. Your water-separating filter handles it beautifully — right up until the bowl fills, at which point
contaminated fuel flows straight through to your engine. The WIF-Pro, a double IBEX Innovation Award winner, gets ahead of that moment with a patented float-and-sensor ring that clamps onto the outside of a Parker/Racor clearbowl filter — Spin-On series for gas outboards, Turbine series for diesel. Nothing sits inside the fuel path, so there’s no wear part to foul or replace. Once the float crosses the threshold for unsafe water accumulation, the control panel lights up its LEDs and fires a 95-decibel alarm — loud enough to register over engine noise — — for boats running an active NMEA network — the same warning pops up on the chartplotter without any extra wiring. The system selftests automatically, and a built-in drip-free drain bottle means clearing the bowl doesn’t turn into a fuel-soaked mess on the dock. Backed by a three-year manufacturer’s warranty, it’s the kind of unglamorous upgrade that earns its
keep the one time it actually matters. For more information, visit www.wifpro.com.
LXNAV MARINE E360
All-in-One ChartplotterSlovenia continues to punch well above its weight in marine electronics, and the LXNAV Marine E360 is the latest evidence. Designed as a compact, all-in-one console solution for smaller powerboats and RIBs — as well as high-end retrofits to classic designs — the round 4-inch touchscreen replaces a cluster of separate gauges with one display that reads everything flowing across the boat’s NMEA 2000 network: engine data, tank levels, depth, the works. Charting comes baked in at no extra cost — OpenSeaMap loads straight out of the box — and owners who need finer detail for a specific cruising ground can drop in an SD card running Navionics instead. Boats already wired for Fusion audio get playback control from the same screen, no separate stereo head unit required. For roughwater operation where a touchscreen becomes unreliable, an optional jog wheel controller (roughly €300) lets the skipper scroll and select with one hand without looking down — a detail that matters more than it sounds the first time someone tries to tap a touchscreen at speed on a small RIB. The clean, automotive-influenced interface puts it in strong competition with significantly larger brands at a fraction of the typical installed price. For more information, visit
www.lxnav.com.
HELLY HANSEN KOSTER 2.5L JACKET
Spring 2026 Marine CollectionThe gap between stylish and genuinely protective has never been narrower than in Helly Hansen’s Spring 2026 marine lineup. The flagship Koster 2.5L Jacket is built around HELLY TECH Performance fabric, which does the unglamorous job of keeping rain out without trapping heat against the skin during a hard sprint to the fenders. Wind cuts through most of what passes for a “marine jacket” at this price point; the Koster’s cinch-down hood and sealed cuffs are specifically tuned to handle a stiff crosswind off the bow during an early-season run on Georgian Bay or a fast crossing of Lake Ontario. The detail most owners won’t notice until year three is the front zip, which is replaceable on its own rather than forcing a full jacket replacement the moment it fails — a small fix for a problem that quietly ends the life of a lot of otherwise-good rain shells. The shell fabric itself runs on recycled material, giving the line a sustainability angle most marine outerwear still skips. The collection positions itself squarely between hardcore offshore foul weather gear and the kind of jacket you’d actually wear walking the docks — a range that suits the majority of Canadian powerboaters who need weather protection without the bulk of a full survival suit. Available Spring 2026. For more information, visit www.hellyhansen.com.
THE CAPTAIN
Aftermarket Marine Camera SystemEven on a 24-footer, there are angles a single operator can’t cover alone — the swim platform when kids are in the water, the blind spot off the stern quarter, the trailer rollers during a solo launch. The Captain pairs two flexible HD cameras (mountable in virtually any position or direction) with a waterproof seven-inch HD touchscreen at the helm and automatic DVR recording running in the background. The display syncs with most smartphones via a standard pairing process, freeing the skipper to keep both hands on the wheel while managing navigation, music, or messaging from the helm screen. Low-light performance keeps the cameras useful well past sunset, and the 12-volt power supply means it drops into any boat without rewiring. At $699.99 USD, it’s one of the most accessible upgrades on this list. For more information, visit www.thecaptaincam.com.
MASTERCRAFT SOUNDSTAGE BY MERIDIAN
2026 X24When MasterCraft redesigned the X24 for its completely rebuilt 2026 model year lineup, the audio system wasn’t an afterthought — it was a headliner. The new SoundStage Audio system, developed in partnership with Meridian, brings audiophile-grade sound to the cockpit of the industry’s best-selling wake boat platform. Meridian, the British high-end audio brand with decades of studio and luxury automotive work behind it, tuned the system specifically for the X24’s open-cockpit acoustic environment, addressing the frequency compromises that plague most marine audio. Paired with keyless digital ignition, a new standard Z9 Power Tower with powered functionality, and a reengineered hull for improved wake performance, the 2026 X24 arrives as a comprehensive package. SoundStage is a fleet-wide element across the 2026 MasterCraft lineup. For more information, visit www.mastercraft.com.
DRYGENIE
Smart Onboard DehumidifierHumidity is the quiet enemy of every boat’s interior — swelling teak, corroding electronics, breeding mold in upholstery, and turning a closed cabin into a musty box by mid-summer. ElectroSea’s DryGenie debuted at the 2025 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show on the strength of raw pulling power: the manufacturer rates it at up to three liters of water removed per day, roughly triple what a unit its size usually manages. A pair of suction-cup
feet anchor it to whatever flat surface is available, an automatic tilt shutoff kills the unit if it ever gets knocked over (a real possibility on a boat that’s underway or rocking at a mooring), and it remembers its last settings through a dockside power blip, so nobody has to climb below and reset it after the boat sat unattended for a week. None of that matters much to a runabout stored in a heated garage over winter, but it’s a different story for a sport-fishing boat running bait tanks, soaked rod lockers, and gear bags all season long — exactly the conditions that turn a closed cabin musty in a hurry. At $299 USD, it undercuts most marine-rated compressor dehumidifiers by a wide margin. For more information, visit www.electrosea.com/drygenie.
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Fishing
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The products that have most revolutionized the world of fishing over the years
By Patrick Campeau
When we try to analyze all the equipment and accessories that have been developed to help anglers catch more fish, we realize that there have been quite a few of them and that it can be difficult to rank them in order of importance based on the impact they’ve had on our performance and results.
Let’s talk marine
If it weren’t for motorists, we’d all still be fishing from the water’s edge or not far from the shore. The first detachable electric motor mounted on a rowboat was developed in 1881 by a French inventor, Gustave Trouvé. It was the American Cameron Waterman who patented the first gasoline-powered model in 1905: the Porto-Motor. However, Ole Evinrude is considered the true father of the modern outboard motor with the creation of his 1.5-ch vertical gasoline engine. He brought the popular Johnson and Evinrude brands to market, which unfortunately no longer exist today. It wasn’t until 1939 that American engineer Elmer Carl Kiekhaefer founded Mercury Marine. In 1940, he made a splash at the New York Boat Show with the launch of the Mercury brand, named after the Roman god of speed. It was an instant success, with Kiekhaefer receiving more than 16,000 orders. Today, the company offers product lines such as Verado, FourStroke, Pro XS, SeaPro, ProKicker, Jets, Avator, R-Series Racing, and more, allowing us to set out to sea with complete confidence. Several other manufacturers have also developed products over time.
Thanks to the performance and reliability of outboard motors like the Mercury ProXS, anglers can travel very long distances to reach their targeted fish It floats
I absolutely must mention modern hull designers; otherwise, we might still be fishing from a homemade raft. We all remember the rowboats and flat-bottomed or slightly arched boats that would chug along through the waves. Ray Hunt was the first naval architect to design the deep-V hull—known as the Deep-V—in 1960, capable of cutting through the waves at high speed. His first wooden prototype immediately won the Miami-Nassau race, leading to the introduction of the fiberglass Bertram 31 model. He also collaborated on the development of the Concordia yawls and the design of the renowned Boston Whalers. High-performance hulls for anglers—made of specialized fiberglass or riveted or welded aluminum—then began appearing on the market. These lightweight, unsinkable, fast boats, equipped with all the necessary gear, have allowed us as recreational boaters to make giant strides. Just think of brands like Lund, Princecraft, Crestliner, Legend, Ranger, Nitro, and others to realize just how much they enable us to get around efficiently and safely.
This is a far cry from a raft made of logs tied together with string. Modern hulls allow us to navigate the surface of all bodies of water, even the most turbulent ones. At the end of the line
Back then, we fished with rope, which looked much more like thick bootlaces than line and was easy to handle. The flexible, easy-to-handle nylon monofilament appeared in 1939, and DuPont holds the exclusive patent for it. We had just entered a new era where subtlety actually mattered. A few years later, the company P-Line combined two different types of nylon to produce a very fine line: the copolymer. It was in 1971 that fluorocarbon—a line with a refractive index of zero that allows it to disappear in the water column—first appeared in stores. With its high density, it is the only line that sinks while also being highly abrasion-resistant. The top honor, however, goes to Dutch State Mines for the invention of multi-strand polyethylene line, also known as Spectra and Dyneema. In addition to having zero elasticity, it offers unmatched strength for an incredibly small diameter. Its ability to detect bites, even at long distances, is unmatched, as is its power transfer during the set.
High-quality lines, such as these P-Line lines, have greatly revolutionized anglers’ habits and performance when casting and fighting fish. Fantastic Revolution
The portable fish finder—the famous sonar—has been around since 1957. It was Lowrance that first brought the “Little Green Box” to market back then. This device finally allowed anglers to better understand what was happening beneath their boats, as well as to locate fish, schools of baitfish, and changes in depth. Wow, wow, and wow again. Over the years, we’ve seen the emergence of LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, chartplotters, and more. Then came digital bathymetric mapping, which assisted us and guided us safely right on the screen. Then, at the turn of the century, Garmin seized the opportunity and took sonar technology to the next level with CHIRP—a continuous frequency sweep that provides better target separation. Next came ClearVü and SideVü scanning imaging, with near-photographic quality to examine structures directly beneath and to the sides of the boat. This was followed by a major breakthrough in 2015 with Panoptix, featuring multidirectional and dynamic views forward, downward, and in 3D. And as if that weren’t enough, Garmin launched the LiveScope revolution with its real-time forward-facing sonars to instantly see fish swimming, their reactions, and more. Just three months ago, they redefined the industry with the LiveScope 2 HD. Imagine the LVS42HD—it’s optimized for casting distances of up to 80 feet. It features the clearest live sonar Garmin has ever developed, offering 50% more detail at close range compared to the previous model. The LVS44 builds on the proven LiveScope Plus technology and offers 20% higher resolution as well as 25% greater range—up to 125 feet—for anglers who want to scan larger bodies of water and locate fish farther from the boat. The LiveScope 2 HD Ice Fishing, designed for ice fishing enthusiasts, delivers the same superior image clarity and features a shorter, more flexible cable designed to withstand cold water.
With the new Garmin LiveScope 2 HD LVS42HD, LVS44, and LiveScope 2 HD Ice Fishing transducers, it’s never been easier to see everything there is to see in the water column. Increased Control
The feature that has truly changed the fishing habits and approaches of serious anglers forever is, without a doubt, the modern electric motor mounted at the bow of the boat. Just imagine—no more need to use an anchor thanks to the Anchor Lock or Spot-Lock feature, which keeps us in place, down to the inch, by pairing with the multi-band GPS system. Think about it: with a model like the Garmin Force Pro, which automatically syncs with an ECHOMAP or GPSMAP sonar, you can store 5,000 waypoints, 50 saved tracks/trails, and up to 100 routes. You can control it either with your foot or a joystick. It even has a Reverse Prop Spin feature to clear it out of weed beds or simply back up by briefly reversing the propeller’s rotation. In short, total control!
Trolling motors, like this Force Pro, provide subtle movements and razor-sharp approaches to outsmart the fish. For fishing
When it comes to lures, the fact that fish hold onto them in their mouths for much longer is undoubtedly due to the invention of Plastisol soft plastic lures in 1950 by Nick Creme of Creme Worm. Their realistic texture and unprecedented flexibility are much more appealing to predators. Later, the little-known company Twister developed two modern classics: the soft plastic lure with a curved tail, known as the Curly Tail, and the one with an oversized tail, the Paddle Tail.
When it comes time to retrieve the line and fight the fish, the reel is second to none. In the late 1930s, the first light-tackle fishing method—known as spinning—made its debut. It was the Frenchman Charles Pons who developed the famous Mitchell 300. Later, Zebco invented the first push-button reel, also known as a spincast reel.
The fishing rod, as we know it, has come a long way. Originally, our ancestors fished using pieces of branches. Later came bamboo, in all its forms, and sturdy fiberglass in 1945. Then, in 1973, carbon fiber made its debut, offering unparalleled tactile sensitivity and bite detection. From that point on, anglers could feel in the tips of their fingers when fish took the bait and even sense changes in the bottom. It’s worth noting that the terms “carbon” and “graphite” are often used interchangeably to describe these materials; graphite fibers are, more precisely, fibers containing at least 99% carbon, while the term “carbon fiber” is used for any fiber with a carbon content of 93% to 95% or higher.
All of the innovations put into fishing gear help us outwit beautiful fish like this one.
Patrick Campeau is a professional fisherman and a three-time provincial champion, inducted into the Canadian Pantheon of Fishing. Find out more about Patrick Campeau at www.pcampeau.com or www.facebook.com/lapassiondepatrickcampeau
