Patent ID: 6978729

Claim:
A control system for a boat such as a yacht comprising: primary propulsion means (M 1 , H 1 ; M 2 , H 2 ) for producing a thrust in at least the longitudinal direction of the boat; at least one primary manual control device (C, C′; L 1 , L 2 ) for controlling the primary propulsion means; transverse propulsion means (M 3 , H 3 ) to produce a thrust transversely of the boat; a second control device (J) of joystick type for controlling the primary and the transverse propulsion means for navigation at slow speed or in docking maneuvers; at least one first apparatus (GPS, R) for making information on the instantaneous speed of the boat available in real time; at least one second detection apparatus for making information on the instantaneous distance between the boat and an obstacle available in real time; an electronic processing and control unit (UC) operatively connected to the said propulsion means, to the said control devices and to the said first and second apparatus for receiving and processing the said speed and distance information; the electronic unit is arranged such that when the boat is located at a distance from an obstacle less than a pre-determined distance the said unit automatically controls the propulsion means for reducing the speed of the boat below at least a pre-determined limit speed, automatically disables the first manual control device, and automatically enables the second joystick control device.