Pittman Innovation Awards

As many readers may have noticed, last year SAIL’s annual Pittman Awards were one of the many things that had to be cancelled as a result of Covid-19. Due to the complete lack of boat shows, trying to gauge the state of the industry with so little opportunity to see what it was ...read more

One of the neat things about sailing is the incredible variety of equipment that sailors use while doing it, whether crossing oceans or just out for a daysail—one of the many reasons why even after all these years SAIL magazine’s annual Pittman Innovation Awards remain as fresh ...read more

For the past couple of decades, the digital side of sailing has become increasingly important, to the point where it’s now almost inconceivable going offshore, even aboard a daysailer, without at least a modicum of electronics onboard—a trend that has been very much in evidence ...read more

Innovation comes in all shapes and sizes, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Pittman Innovation Awards Class of 2018. As has now been the case for a number of years, the latest in electronics is once again very much a part of the mix in everything from safety to ...read more

It would be hard to imagine a simpler bit of safety gear than a tether. That doesn’t mean, though, that the basic sailing tether isn’t without its problems. First and foremost is the problem of what to do with that 6ft of length webbing when you’re trying to move around and/or ...read more

As leisure time becomes an increasingly precious commodity and large crews harder to organize, more and more sailors have begun turning to shorthanded or even singlehanded racing. However, in doing so, these same sailors quickly find themselves having to figure out how to handle ...read more

While its name might not be the sexiest, the Racegeek d10 more than makes up for it with a tremendous amount of functionality, thereby providing smaller boats with the same kind of instrument performance once limited to big-budget grand prix programs. At the heart of the d10 are ...read more

Developed in conjunction with the Chinese-flagged Dongfeng team in the current Volvo Ocean Race, Zhik’s new Isotak X foulweather smock features a number of features designed to keep sailors as warm and dry as possible in the “firehose” conditions for which that event is known, ...read more

SmartAIS is a significant set of free new features that Vesper Marine has added to its existing Wi-Fi-equipped AIS transponders, like the WatchMate XB-8000, by deeply extending the hardware’s integration with Vesper’s WatchMate phone and tablet apps. For instance, the Android ...read more

It’s somewhat coincidental, but also very telling that all three 2018 Pittman Electronics awards involve phone and tablet apps working closely with dedicated marine hardware. In fact, Garmin’s new ActiveCaptain app, actually combines two existing apps with numerous other new ...read more

SkyMate has built a comprehensive communications system specifically for beyond-cellular bluewater boats by maximizing the same relatively inexpensive Iridium short-burst data (SBD) service that has proven its reliable global coverage in such portable devices as the Garmin ...read more

Sailors can now choose from three different MOB alarm-and-locate systems based on relatively inexpensive Bluetooth tags and smartphone apps. In addition to CrewWatcher—last year’s overall Pittman winner, now manufactured and distributed by Weems & Plath—there’s also Sea-Tags ...read more

Sailing has long been recognized as one of those few physical activities where people with disabilities can compete on the same level as those without, and now Scanstrut, working in cooperation with boatbuilder RS Sailing, has made it possible for even those who are severely ...read more

Usually, our Pittman Award winners are picked almost exclusively in recognition of their engineering and design, especially in the systems category. However, in the case of these composite studs, aesthetics also played a part. Not only that, but this aspect of their design was ...read more

It has been a long time since the majority of sailing yachts of any size were conned using only a rudder, its stock and a tiller. Over time steering systems have also grown tremendously in complexity, with many of today’s boats having not only twin helms, but also two rudders ...read more

For many years, Dometic has offered a wide range of portable refrigerators, but the Dometic CFX 95DZW is notable for having many more features than its predecessors. While described as a portable unit, it is not one you pick up, put under your arm and walk away with, even more ...read more

The concept of a stand-alone portable electric winch handle to help grind manual winches is certainly not a new one. Previous iterations, however, have been simple and straightforward, little more than oversized electric drills, while the newly developed Ewincher from France ...read more

It has been an enduring dilemma for sailors down through the ages: how do you stay both warm and dry when out on your boat? To solve this puzzle, the sailing gear specialists at Gill have devised a unique hydrophobic water-repellent down insulation that doesn’t clump up and ...read more

North Sails has been making 3Di sails composed of layers of filament tape incorporating exotic high-modulus fibers for some time, and these have come to dominate performance sailing in such demanding venues as the Volvo Ocean Race and the Vendée Globe. Meanwhile, the default ...read more

Looking back over the years we’ve been running our Pittman Innovation Awards, it’s incredible to see the variety of different products that have been featured. There’s been everything from sails to navigation aids to clever little gadgets that can’t help but make you wonder, “Why ...read more

Vetus has downsized the integral tunnel-motor bow thruster so that it will fit on boats as small as 45 feet. There are two Rimdrive models, the RD125 and the RD160, which both have internal tunnel diameters of 9.8 inches and are rated at 8hp and 9.6hp respectively. The propeller ...read more

Every year there’s a kind of competition within a competition as mechanical systems vie with electronics for primacy in SAIL’s Pittman Innovation Awards, and in 2016 it’s safe to say electronics won hands down. Whether it was a turnkey hybrid drive system, an LED-powered ...read more

One of the toughest parts of sailboat racing, especially for newbies, is keeping track of windshifts and visualizing how they affect your strategy and tactics—issues that can be especially critical on today’s demanding windward-leeward race tracks. Enter the TackingMaster, an ...read more

Seldén’s S-series winch simplifies tacking and makes handling a loaded sheet easier and safer by allowing you to tail the line to your heart’s content with it already running through the self-tailing mechanism and the winch handle in its socket—no more having to pop in the ...read more

Torqeedo, the same company that made a name for itself building viable electric outboards, now appears ready for the big-time with its new Deep Blue Hybrid system for boats from 40ft to 80ft. Employing the same motors found in the company’s larger outboards, Deep Blue ...read more

Organizing the cold stuff for a longer cruise just got a whole lot easier, thanks to Dometic Marine’s new Waeco CRX range of three-in-one refrigerator/freezers, featuring a patented removable freezer compartment. The key to this new system is a condenser plate that is folded ...read more

Blue Sea Systems continues to introduce a variety of different components to help improve a boat’s onboard electrical system. Among the latest is the BatteryLink waterproof charger suitable for flooded, AGM and TPPL batteries, a compact piece of kit that will be especially ...read more

Until recently the only solar sails were those designed for catching the solar wind aboard spacecraft, but not anymore, thanks to UK Sailmakers France and SolarCloth System’s Power Sails. The key here is a set of lightweight, non-load-bearing ultra-thin solar panels—typically ...read more

It’s always been a bit of a Catch-22: the best way to signal for help after dark is by igniting a very hot flame—thereby immediately increasing the danger in an already fraught situation. Recently a number of different electronic “flares” have been created to get around this ...read more

Because of the tremendous number of variables involved, it’s much harder for software algorithms to create a safe, sensible route on a chart than it is on a road map. However, the new Navionics Dock-to-dock Autorouting engine represents a significant leap forward in its ...read more

Going overboard at night, especially offshore, can be a death sentence if the crew onboard can’t see you. In recent years any number of different strobes and other lights have been developed to rectify this situation, but few if any have matched the Lume-On for practicality or ...read more

Innovation doesn’t usually involve feature removal, but by doing away with Ethernet in its Vulcan 7, B&G has created a powerful new multifunction display that allows small-boat sailors to take advantage of features previously only available to the big boys. Because the V7 ...read more

Even in a world replete with digital cameras, the Garmin VIRB XE stands out for its ability to work with the other electronics you have on board to provide a truly special user experience. For example, if you have one of several current Garmin multifunction displays, you can use ...read more

For years the sailing industry has been exploring ways to make sailboats easier to handle. Now Harken and Jeanneau have combined their considerable talents to take ease of use to a whole new level with their Assisted Sail Trim (AST) system—which integrates sophisticated software ...read more

The new Rainman system from Australia is a portable plug-and-play desalinator that should appeal to those cruisers currently daunted by the prospect of somehow fitting a watermaker on their boats. The system comes in two separate modules—a pressure-supply unit and a ...read more