ArgoTM by CMC Marine
ArgoTM is the integrated route control system launched by CMC Marine in 2020 and now installed on yachts and superyachts around the world.
The Pisan company’s new system, drawing from years of experience, was designed to integrate the active surfaces on the boat; the aim is to coordinate the fins and rudders to ensure optimal course stability and, consequently, considerable fuel savings.
On yachts without Argo integration, the stabilizing fins would perceive the motion induced by the rudders and activate automatically to counteract it, thus causing the rudder to respond and resume the original course; the two systems continuously fight in a micro-correction loop.
Thanks to the Argo control system, it is possible to avoid this cycle of continuous movements, thus ensuring excellent course stability, especially in weight bearing and yaw control, as well as a more contained wake, which also leads to fuel savings: after developing innovative control systems for fin stabilizers (Stabilis Electra and Waveless) and steering gear (Directa), the Argo solution to make them communicate and work in harmony was the natural next step.
The rudder and fin stabilizers are integrated in a single CMC Marine control panel, offering significant advantages when the autopilot is operating. The continuous movement of the sea caused by waves and currents, particularly when the autopilot is active, tricks the onboard instrumentation into thinking the yacht is off course, initiating a turn and triggering an infinite and unnecessary cycle of course micro-corrections. This is the key insight behind ArgoTM: the autopilot communicates directly with the CMC Marine instruments, so that the fins and rudder can work together in synchrony rather than against each other, dramatically improving course stability, fuel consumption efficiency and onboard comfort in general.
This interconnection between onboard systems also allows the software to support captains with various indicators and alarms relating to sea conditions, avoiding for example the phenomenon of broaching (when the boat is moving at the same speed as the waves and their thrust produces an acceleration that may cause it to capsize) and allowing them to keep an optimal course.
Argo is currently installed onboard several yachts, equipped with a variety of systems, both from CMC Marine and other brands and it has recently conquered two new yachts: the 40-meter Flexplorer “Aurelia” of Cantiere delle Marche and the new Grande Trideck of Azimut Yachts. A Directa 140 wheelhouse, 4 Long Range stabilizing fins and Dualis thrusters, all by CMC Marine, are onboard the 40-metre Flexplorer “Aurelia” built by Cantiere delle Marche; the 38-metre-long Grande Trideck from Azimut Yachts, on the other hand, has electro-hydraulic steering by a third company, together with High Speed stabilizer fins and Dualis thrusters from CMC Marine.
Over the next 12 months, Argo will be installed aboard another 15 latest generation yachts.
For more details visit www.cmcmarine.com