Volvo Penta’s latest Assisted Docking System is now available as a retrofit option on existing IPS boats. If the benefits of ADS have passed you by until now, allow us to recap a little.
When Volvo Penta’s IPS pod drive system burst onto the scene in 2005 it was rightly heralded as a revolution. From its forwardfacing propellers (claimed to improve efficiency by operating in ‘clean’ water) to the way the pods vectored independently of each other, it was completely different to anything we’d seen before.
Many benefits were claimed for this new system, from more speed and lower fuel consumption to better cabin space (IPS positions the engines further back in the hull, leaving more room for cabins).
But the most important advantage for many buyers was and still is joystick control.
Those independently vectoring pods, working together with a gear shift and throttle, and controlled by a sophisticated computer linked to an easy to understand user interface, make light work of berthing manoeuvres. Simply manipulate the joystick in the direction you want to go and the boat follows. So push it to the side and the boat goes sideways. Twist it, and the boat rotates. It takes all the mystique out of what is often the most terrifying (and public) element of boating. The only thing it can’t do is allow for wind or tide so, for example, if you point the joystick in a straight line forward, although the boat will do exactly that, a beam wind or tide will still send you off course.
That all changed last year when Volvo launched Assisted Docking System on the latest generation of IPS drives. ADS uses GPS positioning to compensate for elements
