News

When the chart ends, the guesswork begins - unless you have real-time seabed intelligence. The WASSP W3P multibeam sonar system is changing how explorer yachts approach poorly charted waters, with live 3D mapping deployed from a tender. Many captains will know the feeling of approaching waters where charts are decades old or, in some cases, non-existent entirely. The depth sounder gives you a number, but it tells you nothing about what's around you. Is there a rock shelf to starboard? A wreck just off the bow? A sudden drop that makes anchoring impossible? For explorer yachts pushing into the world's most remote cruising grounds, the WASSP W3P multibeam sonar system has become the tool that gives captains peace of mind in poorly charted waters. The WASSP W3P is a portable, tender-deployed multibeam sonar system that gives yachts the ability to scout the seabed before the mothership commits. Unlike a traditional depth sounder, which measures just one point vertically below the vessel, the WASSP W3P uses 224 beams simultaneously across a 120° swath from port to starboard, capturing the entire underwater landscape in a single sweep and revealing depth contours, underwater features, obstructions and the shape of the seabed in both 2D and 3D. Read the full article here at Dockwalk 

• Superyacht • W3 Map the seafloor accurately in 3D and in real-time to safely explore it all. Use your tender to map the seafloor in advance of your superyacht to find the safest passage and anchorage. Backscatter lets you make your own bathymetric chart to reveal seafloor hardness or softness.

• Exploration • W3 In preparation for a 9,000 nautical mile journey last year from the French Riviera to Svalbard, Norway Gene Machine Captain Rothberg included WASSP W3 Multibeam sonar systems for the ships Tenders.    As published on Boat International  The US scientist behind high-speed DNA sequencing tells Marilyn Mower how his 55 metre AmelsGene Machine affords him time with his family – and a laboratory for his daughter... The owner of 55 metre Gene Machine pads into the upper saloon dressed in his vacation uniform of shorts and T-shirt, fresh from accompanying his younger children to the Atlantis water park in the Bahamas He is taller, tousled and far more gregarious than I had expected for such a renowned scientist. His bare feet put me at ease as much as his engaging, broad smile. And he laughs easily as his littlest son zooms through the room in a dripping bathing suit. “Thanks for meeting us here while the kids are on vacation. So, what do you want to talk about?” he asks. I expected the interview to focus on the yacht’s 9,000 nautical mile journey last year from the French Riviera to Svalbard, Norway, but it turns out that that would be starting the story in the middle.....  Full article published on Boat International - read in full here

The New WASSP W3P makes it easy.  WASSP releases innovative new W3 integrated wireless unit for real-time tender mapping within a portable bracket mounted unit.  Global trailblazer in multibeam technology, WASSP has again come out with game changing innovation with their latest release, the WASSP W3P. Incorporating the successful WASSP technology for 3D real-time seafloor mapping with wireless transmission to a mothership, the W3P offers updated features in a sleek and portable integrated unit. The new product combines the convenience of a complete “all in one” system which will allow the technology to be quickly and easily deployed on a wide range of vessels and applications, while still providing the same high quality mapping data of the original W3 fixed mount system.      As WASSP has grown its W3 global customer base to over 50 superyachts utilizing its sought after wireless products, a demand for a portable option for existing tenders was needed to allow customers who want to easily utilise the WASSP wireless capabilities with minimal effort. Out of this the WASSP W3P was developed. The integrated solution, provides transducer, processor, transmitter, position sensors, wifi and bracket mounted pole in a fully contained and eye catching product. With a simple bracket mounted attachment, the W3P only requires a power connection to allow real-time 3D bathymetry mapping of the sea floor from a tender which can be transmitted back in real-time to a mothership at distances up to 2 Nm.     Previous versions of the W3 have been hailed as must-haves for superyachts, allowing captains and crew to get accurate real-time visualisations of the sea floor ensuring safe and accurate navigation, particularly in areas with poor navigational map data or after weather conditions that may have caused seafloor changes.      WASSP Product Manager Nick Fogarty believes the new W3P will offer unparalleled navigation to an even greater range of customers given the products simple and easy installation on virtually any vessel.     “The W3P is the culmination of 5 years of Kaizen product development. Feedback from our customers and dealers wanted an all in one solution, that was simple to retrofit, setup and be used across a variety of vessels. The ability to install the product and be mapping remote destinations safely in a matter of minutes was our goal, and we have achieved that”  With this new product release WASSP hopes to expand its global superyacht reach and enable more vessels to take advantage of the unique features allowing for easier and safer travel to even more unchartered regions of the globe. WASSP aims to empower customers to maximise their enjoyment on the world's oceans and seas in ways that leverage the latest technology through simple and user-friendly systems. 

• Superyacht • W3 See the latest WASSP Video which demonstrates how to use WASSP on a tender to map the seafloor in advance of a superyacht to find the safest passage and anchorage.  Map the seafloor accurately in 3D and in real-time to safely explore it all. Use your tender to map the seafloor in advance of your superyacht to find the safest passage and anchorage. Backscatter lets you make your own bathymetric chart to reveal seafloor hardness or softness.  

• W3 Excerpt from online Interview with UMBRA Captain Llyn Buckwalter:  Published within AMELS online Magazine FINEST MOMENTS, 2020 SPRING 2020 Exploration vessel M/Y Umbra was fitted with a WASSP W3 Wireless System while recently in Brisbane Australia.  To read the full article click here Pacific Adventures Venture over the horizon and under the surface with this DAMEN Yacht Support vessel and her mother yacht. Seeing underwater Going below the surface in search of underwater volcanoes was also the perfect opportunity for the crew to use UMBRA’s pioneering WASSP multibeam sonar set-up. UMBRA is wirelessly connected to the four other boats in the fleet – the mother yacht ROCHADE, the mother yacht’s tender, and two of UMBRA’s tenders. It is the first group of boats in the world to be connected with five WASSP systems. Each of these systems link together so they never have to go into an area without knowing the seafloor bathymetry. Building the dive profile, while looking into the types of currents and obstructions, makes UMBRA a proper exploration platform.   “We are actually doing some of the beta testing for the WASSP set-up, as nobody else goes out and does a 500 plus metre 3D reef mapping without being a research vessel. If you’re on a regular white yacht, you are only looking for a place to anchor, whereas with UMBRA what the crew does it that we are constantly looking for new places to explore.”

• Superyacht • W3 Our W3 sounder system featured in ‘Onboard Essentials’ in the latest Onboard Magazine. WASSP "With the growth in superyacht owners, guests and crew wanting to explore new locations, exploring new fishing spots, diving wrecks and reefs – the WASSP Multibeam W3 sounder system is becoming must have equipment for the world’s superyachts. WASSP W3 (Wireless) is ideally suited to use when navigating in unknown waters or where marine charts lack sufficient detail, WASSP W3 takes the risk out of the equation for the captains of these large and very expensive vessels.Installed in the tender or support vessel of a superyacht, the W3 uses a wireless link to send a real-time sea floor map back to the superyachts bridge system and display on a MaxSea navigation plotting platform - all in real-time." ........ Read the full feature here:   

WASSP Multibeam has announced the release of two new firmware updates, CDX 4.0 and DRX 6.0, for its W Series multibeam sonar systems designed to provide wireless communication between a superyacht and its tender. These updates will add a number of new functions to WASSP systems currently in use and, in most cases, can be installed by the user free-of-charge. The new Wireless License can now interface directly with the Time Zero on the mothership. With CDX this new license allows for two vessels to share (live via wireless connection) each other’s WASSP mapping, including 2D and 3D mapping and backscatter. Data from outside wireless range, when updating, can now be monitored with a progress function, enabling crew on the mothership to confirm when all data has been transferred. A new TVG has been added to give users the choice of 20 or 40, enabling concentration on large targets and the seafloor whilst filtering out smaller clutter or concentration on the full water column. A new Multiresolution Database with automatic, depth-adjusted, best resolution mapping which can be used in all depths and to which existing databases can be uploaded. A greatly improved mapping algorithm reduces Roll errors by using best data, both new and historic, and significantly enhances mapping and tracking in shallow water of less than 5m. Aligned Water Column Targets in Sonar, Sounder, 2D and 3D mapping can now be displayed in the same colour according to TVG. A video demonstrating the system updates is available here. WASSP Multibeam screen imagery from the previous generation software The new and improved WASSP Multibeam mapping from the new firmware update.   Gif file demonstrating the difference between the two generations of firmware.