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HelmLink · In beta testing

HelmLink connects Pathr to your boat.

A small hardware bridge to your boat’s own NMEA 2000 network. It reads the instruments already on board: GPS, depth, wind, engines, fuel and batteries. In on-water testing on Raymarine Evolution autopilots, it also steers and follows your Pathr route waypoint by waypoint. You stay in command.

Join the betaSee the bigger vision
Pathr’s chart of San Diego Bay with a boat under way on a route Pathr planned, in the channel past downtown toward the Coronado Bridge, with the HelmLink spec beside it
Pathr’s chart of San Diego Bay: a route Pathr planned, past downtown and under the Coronado Bridge

HelmLink v1 // Today

Pathr knows the chart. HelmLink reads the boat.

Your phone knows where you are. It can’t measure the depth under your boat, the wind, or the fuel left in the tank. Your boat’s instruments can. HelmLink joins the NMEA 2000 backbone they already share and brings their readings into the Pathr app.

HelmLink

In beta testing
Reads
NMEA 2000
Steers
Raymarine, in testing
Route following
In testing
The Pathr app with a route planned across San Diego Bay: 6.6 nm, 23 minutes, Route Safety 100, Excellent

NMEA 2000 backbone

  • GPSPosition, speed and course
  • DepthDepth under the boat
  • WindWind speed and angle
  • EngineRPM, hours and temperature
  • FuelTank level and burn rate
  • BatteriesVoltage and current
  • AutopilotIn testing

Autopilot control is in on-water testing on Raymarine Evolution autopilots with a p70 or p70s control head. When it is online, HelmLink also uploads its readings to Pathr’s servers.

Built around the boat you already have

  1. Works with what’s installed

    No new chartplotter. HelmLink joins the NMEA 2000 backbone your boat already has.

  2. Small and quiet

    A small box with no screen of its own. Pathr on your phone is the screen.

  3. Not tied to one brand

    It speaks NMEA 2000, the standard marine electronics share, not one maker’s network. Steering starts with Raymarine Evolution autopilots.

Pathr FleetPilot program

A HelmLink aboard every boat in the fleet.

Every boat in a Pathr Fleet pilot gets a HelmLink. Units in the field upload their readings over Wi-Fi today. Every HelmLink will ship with a cellular modem, pilot units included, so the office can follow each boat while it is under way: who is running late, what needs attention, and engine hours without logbooks.

Explore Pathr FleetTry the demo

60-day pilot, up to five boats

The Pathr Fleet chart in the interactive demo, with a simulated fleet: Sea Lark selected, under way at 15 knots off Coronado, Halcyon under way, and Tern overdue by 25 minutes.
Sea Lark, a 22 foot rental powerboat, under way and returning, with no active alerts. Its unit: HelmLink HL-0403, firmware 0.1.22, simulated link, last heard 5 seconds ago.
HelmLink telemetry from Sea Lark over NMEA 2000, marked simulated: 2,840 RPM, engine hours 1,038.2 with service due at 1,107.4, fuel rate 5.2 gallons per hour, coolant 136°F warming up, oil pressure 48 psi normal, fuel 86% with 32 gallons left.
Shown: the Pathr Fleet interactive demo, with a simulated fleet

Where HelmLink goes next

More autopilots, and Co-Captain on board.

One comes later and the other is a plan. Neither is part of the beta today.

Later

More autopilots.

Raymarine Evolution autopilots come first, and steering them is in on-water testing now. Other autopilot brands are not supported yet; more come later.

Have a Simrad, B&G, Garmin or Furuno autopilot? Join the beta and help us add it.

Future plan

Co-Captain, on board.

We plan to run Co-Captain, the AI co-pilot we’re building, on HelmLink itself, so it keeps working with no signal.

What Co-Captain will do

Where HelmLink stands

Talk to us about HelmLink.

HelmLink is in beta testing. The sheet says exactly what it does today and what comes later. If you run a fleet, build marine electronics or want to help test it, let’s talk.

Join the betaBook a 30-minute meeting

Or email team@smartsail.ai

HelmLink v1

In beta testing
Connects to
Your boat’s NMEA 2000 backbone
Reads
GPS, depth, wind, engines, fuel and batteries
Readings go to
The Pathr app, and Pathr’s servers when the unit is online
Steers
Raymarine Evolution autopilots with a p70 or p70s control head: engage, Standby and heading changes from PathrIn testing
Route following
Your Pathr route, waypoint by waypoint: Pathr hands the autopilot one leg at a time, and its own track mode holds the lineIn testing
You stay in command
Press and hold to engage. Big turns ask you to confirm. Standby is always one tap away, and if the phone’s link drops, the autopilot keeps holding its heading.
In Pathr Fleet
On every pilot boatPilot program
Cellular modem
Next
Other autopilots
Later
Co-Captain on board
Future plan

HelmLink is built for Pathr Navigation. Today it works with a beta build of the app. The app itself is free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App Store
Get it on Google Play