The Reveal: AutoWake and WakeTouch!

[IDBoating]

What letter does the company start with?????? just kidding, just kidding.

Ha ha! Yes, we'd love to share more but we honor our agreements, including those of confidentiality.

Congrats I am sure we are all looking forward to the big reveal on this. I thinks its awesome what you guys have done and hope the best for you.

Thanks, I really appreciate your kind words and encouragement! We are very excited about how this has worked out and view it as just the first phase of what will hopefully be our ongoing technological contribution in the boating industry. Our discussions with multiple players have uncovered a whole lot of cool opportunities, things that the industry really needs but nobody is doing (yet). We might just fix that....

[mdephillips]

Thanks for fast response and update Understand about non disclosure. Interesting that company did not buy the Wake Touch. Assume that means they will incorporate AutoWake into their existing helm unit.

[Thegerman618]

Sounds like you guys revitalizing and innovating a huge market, again good luck maybe one day I will be able to own a boat with a cool logo that says AUTOWAKE Equipped...

[Eastern shore wake]

Hi, thought this was a terrific innovation. Was it ever acquired? I checked website and doesn't seem to have anything new since last year. Just curious as to what finally happened with the technology.

[Bryan]

Since you've held on to the WakeTouch side of things, any chance it will ever be sold as an aftermarket add on for those of us running pre-touchscreen controlled boats? I'd cut out the whole dash if I could replace my gauges with a slick fiberglass panel with a built in tablet running your system...

Secondly, you worked into the deal that you get the first brand new boat off the line running your AutoWake system right..

[IDBoating]

Thanks for the inquiries!

Yes, AutoWake was acquired back in August of last year. The buyer has been feverishly working on integrating it into their 2017 model line. I expect you'll see announcements in mid-summer.

No, we cannot reveal who purchased it. Not even hint at it, sorry. Non-disclosures and all that. They want to control their marketing, which is fair, and we must respect that.

Yes, we have retained the WakeTouch "tablet helm" portion of the intellectual property. We have great plans for that, but right now we are very busy on 2-3 other projects for the wakeboat industry. Lots of opportunities came our way during the AutoWake process. We have chosen to pursue a select few for now, and they are consuming all of our time at present. Once those are in production, our plan is to move forward with Tablet Helm. Precisely how that will be marketed is not clear yet, but there has been great interest so we think it has BIG potential. And not just for retrofits... have you looked at the Bryant Wake Tractor? Check out how they're doing their helm. And yes, we have patents both issued and pending....

Thanks!

[Eastern shore wake]

Thanks for the update! Glad to hear and look forward to seeing who the lucky buyer was later this summer Also, look forward to hearing about the new opportunities you are pursuing when you can share. Good luck!!

[Booms]

Getting close! I am excited to see what manufacturer will introduce this. I think a manufacturer like Tige, Centurion or other manufacturer that uses the TAPS3 like system will benefit the most from a system like this.

Should find out in a month.

[IDBoating]

Possibly less than a month. Last we discussed it, it was "the first part of July". But we don't know how widespread that announcement will be at first, might just be dealers sworn to secrecy.

We are excited to see it hit the market. One of the biggest advantages it will bring to the industry is the ability for their dealers to always be able to give a great demo. Turns out this is a huge problem affecting every brand: Their dealers (or more specifically, the salespeople at those dealers) aren't always very good at setting up the boats to give a great surfing wave or wakeboarding wake, especially with different numbers of passengers on those demo rides. Apparently market research has shown that the quality of the demo ride has a huge impact on closing the sale; people tend to go with the best demo, which (until AutoWake) was almost entirely dependent upon which salesman went out on the boat that day. Manufacturers and dealers lose a LOT of sales to this problem.

AutoWake fixes that. While a really seasoned salesman might be able to get a nice wave on his own, essentially ANY salesman can now take out any model of AutoWake-equipped boat, with any number of potential buyers aboard, press a button, and know for certain they will demo a high quality wave or wake. That alone will close a LOT of new sales for this company. And after the sale, the new owners will have better owner experiences from Day One, skipping the whole "I can't get the same wave the dealer showed me" frustration and allowing those owners to start tweaking from a known-good wave immediately. We certainly see a lot of threads like that here on TO, and they aren't exclusive to Tige... EVERY brand's website has threads like that. Very soon, one brand isn't going to have them anymore....

[Thegerman618]

Is it a brand we are all familiar with?

[Dandy]

Is it a brand we are all familiar with?

Not to poke fun, but the answer to this should be yes. This technology is only going to be beneficial to wake boats and I am sure that many of us are familiar with all of the brands since there are not THAT many wake boat mfgs. out there.

[Thegerman618]

Not to poke fun, but the answer to this should be yes. This technology is only going to be beneficial to wake boats and I am sure that many of us are familiar with all of the brands since there are not THAT many wake boat mfgs. out there.

Your no fun Dandy I know that IDB wont say anything as he is probably legally sworn to secrecy on the project, but its still fun to try and guess. I know its probably going to one of the top companies, and I think its safe to say that Tige' is not part of the conversation for it. IF I were a betting type of person, my bet would be on Supra then again I usually lose at bets so we shall see either way can wait to see it.

[Stingreye]

When I saw the wake tractor helm (android tablet), I seriously wondered if Bryant boats bought it. I am betting its someone bigger in the industry though.
http://uk.boats.com/reviews/wake-tra...ng-new-ground/

[IDBoating]

Yes, it's a company everyone will recognize immediately. Sorry we can't say more that!

[NICKYPOO]

Yes, it's a company everyone will recognize immediately. Sorry we can't say more that!

...and you will be very wealthy and have a monocle, a cane and tails on your coat.