Think of McMurdo and you probably think of flares and flashing lifebuoy lights - but all that is now a thing of the past.
At the Southampton Boat Show the company announced a change of strategy, complete with new logo and website.
Having split with Pains Wessex, and sold its lights division, McMurdo is now solely involved with electronics and “concentrating on its core competencies” - emergency location beacons and Navtex receivers.
The two latest Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) were unveiled at the show. The Smartfind Plus G5 (with GPS) and the Smartfind E5 are compact, accurate and robust, says the company, offering peace of mind to both recreational and professional sailors.
Sales and marketing director Jeremy Harrison said that because they were the first EPIRBs with non hazardous batteries and LED strobe lights, the cost of ownership had reduced dramatically. Both models are available in float free or manual activation form.
Prices (inc VAT) range from £374.99 for the manual Smartfind E5 to £749.99 for the float free Smartfind Plus G5, which is intended for craft venturing further afield.
The integral GPS receiver enables position information to be transmitted, which can greatly reduce the time it takes for rescue services to arrive on the scene. The 121.5 MHz homing transmitter also aids casualty location.
Both models have a battery status monitor, five-year warranty and a five year battery change interval.
Also new at the show is the McMurdo Nav-7 GMDSS Navtex. This is designed to be simple to operate, with large, easy to read fonts, and colour coded messages making that important maritime information easier to access than ever before.
Simultaneous tri-channel monitoring enables a single list of Navtex messages(English language, national language and long range services) to be viewed together. And the four-colour LCD screen is designed to be easy to read in all light conditions.
The set is competitively priced at £832.49 inc VAT, or £955.86 with an optional external antenna. There is also an optional printer output.
The third new product McMurdo announced at the show is the Fastfind Personal Locator Beacon.
“The difference between this system and anybody else's, the real selling point, is the support structure behind it,” said Jeremy.
It was originally designed for the fishing market, he added. “But we know that this product will have a lot of benefits for short-handed and lone sailors in the leisure market.”
If someone wearing the Fastfind PLB falls overboard, it will raise an alarm, and if nobody stops that within two minutes, it will alert the emergency services. “It is that network behind it that makes it a unique product,” said Jeremy.
The system, which can support up to four PLBs, will cost £1938.75 plus an air time contract of £282 per year, and it will be available to yachtsmen from next April.
For more information visit www.mcmurdo.co.uk
