9-in. Chartplotter Guide

Michael Garretson, a marine electronics specialist from Sea & Land Yacht Works, gives his opinion of the current range of 9-in. chartplotters.

By
Todd Vorenkamp
-
Published:
10
Marine electronics specialist Michael Garretson calls the B&G Zeus³ 9 "top of the hill" in terms of 9-in. chartplotters. Image source: B&G
Marine electronics specialist Michael Garretson calls the B&G Zeus³ 9 "top of the hill" in terms of 9-in. chartplotters. Image source: B&G

With many options on the market in the 9-in. multi-function device (MFD) category, which chartplotter works best for the needs of cruising sailors, racers and budget-minded boaters?

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Todd Vorenkamp
http://www.trvphoto.com
Todd Vorenkamp is a proposal writer and editor for Valiant Integrated Systems. He is a former Senior Creative Content Writer for the B&H Photo blog, Explora, where he wrote educational articles about photography and optics as well as product reviews, Op-ed pieces, and feature articles. Since 2017, Todd has worked as an Adjunct Instructor of Photography at Dakota College in Bottineau, North Dakota teaching the full curriculum of photography classes. He engages in freelance work as a photography workshop instructor, professional photographer specializing in commercial architectural assignments and environmental portraiture, writer for aviation and maritime magazines, and has worked as a sailing instructor for both adults and children. Todd has a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Photography from the Academy of Art University and his photographs have appeared in books and magazines. Todd is also a graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy and is a former naval aviator who has served as an aircraft commander in the Boeing H-46, Sikorsky H-3 and H-60, and Eurocopter H-65 helicopters. He has raced sailboats and sailed across the globe on commercial containerships as a licensed merchant marine officer—holding a 3rd mate unlimited tonnage ocean license. Todd is the author of “A Is for Aperture: The ABC’s of Photography.” He is the former editor-in-chief of Rotor Review, the Naval Helicopter Association’s quarterly publication and "Hear This," the USMMA midshipman newspaper. His writing was featured in the anthology “Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families,” published by Random House and the National Endowment for the Arts. Todd has written over 100 print-published articles and hundreds more for online publications.
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10 COMMENTS

    • Hi Ward,

      Thanks for your comment. Yes, the Axiom 2 Pro does have a hybrid control system and would be great for sailing. Unfortunately, my reference list did not contain this model but I appreciate you bringing it to the attention of your fellow sailors here!

      Best,

      Todd

  2. I don’t know how the author and the ‘Pro” guy …a B&G dealer hmm… could have missed the Raymarine Axiom 9 Pro2 S which is BOTH sailing-centric and hybrid-touch.
    Although I am not a Raymarine fanboy, my entire nav system is RM only because they used to bend over backwards to ensure backward compatibility. This meant you could upgrade bits of the system at your leisure instead of having to do the whole shebang at once at a cost exceeding many boats’ value. Sadly that compatibility is no more since the axiom series.
    So my 2 yr old autopilot has full functionality with my 30+ yr old wind instrument and 12 yr old (hybrid touch) plotter. Including the 40 yr old depth ‘ducer and 20 yr old module. this mess uses all 3 gens of seatalk and nmea 0183 AND 2000, and it works fine, with kudos and gratitude to very patient RM tech support.

    • Hi John,

      Thank you for your comment and bringing my attention to the Axiom Pro. I was given a list of units to cover and the Axiom Pro was not on that list. Having said that, I should have taken a deeper dive into the Raymarine plotters and included the Axiom Pro in the list.

      Thanks also for sharing your experience with Raymarine and its backwards compatibility as well!

      Best,

      Todd

  3. There is an error in this report relative to the Raymarine Axiom+ 9 unit.

    The table for this unit shows it as a “NO” as to having sailing-specific features. It does indeed have sailing specific features, for both racing and cruising. Right from the time of setup, the unit asks if you are in a sailing vessel (vs. fishing and a couple other options). It has robust racing features, including the ability to incorporate polar performance data. Several other things that I’ve found helpful.

    I invite the authors to check it out, and correct their table. I’ve had mine for a couple months and it works great….a really advanced piece of tech. Did you interview actual users, or just industry “pros” who may or may not have an ax to grind?

    • Hi Mark,

      Thank you for bringing my attention to this. In my limited hands-on experience with this unit I missed the sailing features and the Raymarine website does not highlight these features, so an error was introduced to the table.

      After taking a deep dive into the Axiom+ operation manual, I did see the sailing features and we will be updating the table and text.

      Thanks again! I appreciate the backup!

      Best,

      Todd

  4. The reason that I don’t care for Raymarine plotters is that they use their proprietary SeaTalk and not true NMEA2000. The used sailboat, that I purchased for inland cruising, came with an older Raymarine autopilot, etc. and I can’t even get an N2K interface for these older devices. I currently use Lowrance at the helm because it can accept AIS data which is important. With NMEA One Net coming interoperability is even more important as it can handle radar data transfer. I was on the original N2K design advisory committee as an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers member. We worked long and hard while contacting manufacturers to come up with what we hoped would be a universal instrument interface standard. Almost all manufacturers use true N2K. As a 16-year full time riverboat captain and Caribbean recreational cruiser I have used Lowrance, Simrad, B&G, and Raymarine. Based on my experience I believe B & G is the best choice for serious offshore sailors and racers. I use OpenCPN running on a Raspberry Pi with my TV as a large monitor for inland cruise planning and transfer routes to my helm Lowrance.

  6. I have an Axiom 9 touch screen that interfaces with WiFi Quantum Radar and Autopilot. My Legacy 28 bounces around too much for the touch screen so I added a RM 150(?) keypad that really helps. All installed 2018. Only issue has been failure of Quantum redone. Had to replace with new unit that had both WiFi and cable last month. WiFi works fine for now but I will replace with cable once I can get it through the tubes if the radar arch. I also added AIS receive from Standard VHF with special adapter. I’d like to be able to squeak AIS but blew my budget in new radome this year.
    Helps.