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Seakeeper Ride — underway stabilisation
Seakeeper Ride is a Vessel Attitude Control System: a pair of controllers on the transom that read the boat’s movement and answer it before you feel it. Up to 70% of underway pitch and roll, gone. Supplied, fitted and serviced across the GCC by GY Marine Services.
Seakeeper calls Ride the first and only Vessel Attitude Control System, and the description is a fair one: it does not merely trim the boat, it controls its attitude on all three axes while you are under way. Two controllers sit on the transom, below the waterline. Proprietary inertial sensors read pitch, roll and yaw a hundred times a second, and rotary blades deploy to meet each movement as it starts.
The difference from a trim tab is speed. A tab has to swing a large surface through the water to build force; Ride’s rotary blades create the same force in a fraction of the time, which is why the system can answer a wave rather than react to one. Nothing is asked of the helm: there is no trim to set, no tab to nudge, and no rebalancing when passengers move about the deck.
Figures are the manufacturer’s. Seakeeper publishes an elimination of 45–70% of pitch and roll across conditions, with up to 70% quoted as the headline. Actual results depend on the boat, its loading and the sea state.
Inertial sensors track the hull’s movement on all three axes — pitch, roll and yaw — and the system’s software predicts where the boat is going next rather than waiting for it to get there. Motion is met as it begins, which is why it is not felt on deck.
Rotary blades below the waterline adjust a hundred times a second, on a current draw of roughly 7 to 10 amps. Because the blade rotates rather than swings, it builds the same corrective force as a trim tab in a fraction of the time.
Seakeeper’s Trim Command Curve™ sets the right running angle for whatever speed you are doing, gets the boat onto the plane sooner, keeps the deck level however the weight is distributed, and takes the heel out of a turn. None of it is asked for at the helm.
The drivetrain is sealed and greased, with no salt water reaching it. The system mounts on most transoms, on a new build or as a retrofit, and is controlled through an NMEA-compatible multifunction display with an Ethernet port — no extra panel at the helm.
Seakeeper Ride 450
Up to 26 ft (8 m)
Seakeeper Ride 525
27 – 30 ft (8 – 9 m)
Seakeeper Ride 600
31 – 36 ft (10 – 11 m)
Seakeeper Ride 750
37 – 42 ft (11 – 13 m)
Seakeeper Ride 900 – 1500
43 – 55 ft (13 – 17 m)
Specialised versions are available for catamarans and for pontoon boats. Seakeeper Ride suits fibreglass and aluminium monohulls, stepped or unstepped, up to roughly 55 feet, and is not intended for vessels running above 80 mph. Tell us the boat and we will confirm the right model and quote it complete with fitting.
Ride mounts on most transoms and is available both as original equipment on a new boat and as a retrofit to a boat you already own. We survey the transom, confirm the model against the hull and handle the installation and commissioning.
The 450, 525 and 600 need a 12 V DC supply able to deliver 10 amps; the 750 and the 900–1500 draw 14 to 16 amps. Control runs through an NMEA-compatible multifunction display with an Ethernet port.
Ride is an underway system. It begins to have trim authority at about 10 mph, and the full stabilisation benefit arrives around 20 to 25 mph — roughly 17 to 22 knots.
It does not stabilise the boat at rest. Roll at anchor is what a Seakeeper gyro is for, and the two are often specified together.
Inspect the zinc anodes about every three months and replace them once half worn. Rinse with fresh water after use in salt, and apply antifouling if the boat stays in the water for more than a couple of weeks.
The manufacturer’s warranty runs two years from the date of delivery.
Give us the make, the length and how you use her, and we will confirm which Ride suits the hull, what the installation involves and what it costs, fitted. We supply, install and service Seakeeper Ride across the GCC.
Seakeeper, Seakeeper Ride, Vessel Attitude Control System and Trim Command Curve are trade marks of Seakeeper, Inc. Specifications and figures are the manufacturer’s and are subject to change.
