In the latest edition of The Superyacht Group’s Digital Dialogues, Martin Redmayne speaks with Daniel Kerkhof, director of Crestron Marine, about the future of AV/IT and on-board entertainment.

Crestron Marine specialises in creating solutions for superyachts, from the control and distribution of audio and video, to the integration of lighting, shades, climate, and navigation systems, with the aim of providing a connected on-board experience. Speaking with Redmayne, Kerkhof acknowledges that the superyacht industry still needs to catch up with the residential world in terms of the automation and integration of systems.

Sustainability is one key area in which Kerkhof believes that the automation and integration of systems could make a real difference. “What always still surprises me is when you see yachts in harbour and the lights all over the whole vessel will be turned on for the whole evening, even though not all decks will be filled with people. So, why not, if there's nobody on that deck, just switch off all lights and HVAC for that deck?” he questions. “These are typical examples of technologies that we have been using for the last 30 years in office buildings to save energy, so for superyachts these integrations would be nothing more than logical.”

For owners to experience a new level of entertainment on board, Kerkhof thinks that the next step for yachting is going to be localisation. “So that we know exactly who is where on the vessel and can adjust all the systems according to that,” he explains. “But, to do this, we first need to have the integration of all systems, including the HVAC, lighting and security systems, so that it is not only the AV/IT system that is reacting to a person being in a certain room or deck, but we can make the whole boat react to them.”

Kerkhof adds that, in order to achieve this, the superyacht industry needs to change the way it works; “It is very much down to the subcontractors who work on the build in the yard – to integrate the different systems, the different contractors need to communicate with each other... and this is where the yards could play a role to push those companies to work together to deliver a better product altogether.”

Later in the discussion, Redmayne and Kerkhof discuss the value having crew trained in accordance with the entertainment systems on board. “If something goes wrong, or if the owner has a demand from the system that wasn’t there before, it is much easier for the crew if they have insight into how the system actually works in order to decide what is going wrong or what needs to change and report that back to the system integrator,” says Kerkhof. “That way, a solution can be reached much more efficiently.”

To hear more about Kerkhof ‘s vision for the future of on-board entertainment, watch the full video here.

The One to One series is a collective campaign for change and industry improvement, and we welcome participants from all sectors. If you would like to take part, or contribute your thoughts, please contact Research Editor Clare Sidwell.

You can also view the ever-growing archive of Digital Dialogues here. 

Crestron recently hosted a virtual event – ‘Crestron TV: Shaping the Future of Superyachting’. To access a recording of the event, please click here.

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