French sail and motorboat manufacturer Beneteau has teamed up with Peugeot to design the Sea Drive Concept, a glimpse in the boating industry’s future steering station. Unveiled at of the Nautic boat show in Paris, the Sea Drive Concept promises to be a fantastic experience for visitors and offers new perspectives on the future of motorboat driving.
While certain cars now boast lines and luxury inspired by the world of yachting, boats, on the other hand, are adopting ergonomic solutions and designs from the car industry. Resulting from a highly productive exchange between these two worlds, the demonstrator invented and designed by Peugeot Design Lab integrates Ship Control connected technology, recently developed by Beneteau, in Peugeot’s i-Cockpit.
Inspired by onboard computers in cars, this intuitive and user-friendly interface provides simple centralized access to many of the boat’s functions. The Ship control on-board assistant is accessed from the navigation display or a tablet connected to the boat’s Wi-Fi network. A quick tap on the icon you want and you can manage the lights, air-conditioning, Hi-Fi, electrical sources, bilge pumps or a page dedicated to navigation.
Luca Brancaleon, general manager of Beneteau, is clearly enthusiastic about the Sea Drive Concept: “Innovation is a Beneteau hallmark. Apart from the pride we felt when Peugeot asked us to work on a common project based on connectivity, it seemed natural. It is very exciting to see our two brands, both pioneers in their felds, working to further the boating experience.”
This eagerness is shared by Jean-Philippe Imparato, general manager of Peugeot, who stresses that the i-Cockpit is now symbolic of Peugeot’s new identity; an innovative brand ofering its customers pleasure and freedom: “It revolutionizes the interior of our vehicles reinventing the driver experience. We are proud to see it adapted to other worlds and to work with a frm as prestigious as Beneteau, in an industry so diferent from our own! This Sea Drive Concept is a fne example of shared recognition.”
all images courtesy of Beneteau