Minneapolis Full Of Innovation

The doors will officially open at 2pm local time this afternoon as the annual Minneapolis Boat Show gets underway in Minnesota. While the four-day show promises a lot of excitement, the fun actually kicked off last night when the NMMA Innovation Award winners were announced.

Avalon’s new Waketoon, a true triple pontoon wakesurfing boat, earned the top award in the pontoon segment for a truly innovative and unique design. However, it wasn’t the only innovative boat competing for the award.

The Entertainer
Other entrants included Barletta who entered its new L25UE that offers a very functional and practical layout for entertaining. The manufacturer has taken its Ultra-Lounge and combined it with a midship entertainment area. The Ultra-Lounge, with five different seating opportunities (sitting forward, lounging backward, lounging forward, sitting backward, or a huge daybed), occupies the stern of the boat. Centrally located, the entertainment area promotes interaction between all the boat’s occupants. As is standard with all L-Class Pontoon Boats, the L25UE features “Yeti-Ready” cupholders throughout (18 opportunities for cupholders to host your favorite beverages without fear of spilling), and the stern “Yeti-Ready” in-floor storage compartment designed specifically for the Yeti Soft 18 Cooler.

Club Chair
The new Ultra-Q floorplan from Barletta is truly innovative and like nothing else currently available. The Ultra-Q floorplans in the L Class feature the all-new Club Chair. The Ultra-Q floorplans give you all the opportunities for quad-lounge seating, with an upgraded seat for the co-captain offering three different seating opportunities (sitting forward, lounging backward, or a port day-lounge). This isn’t your typical “swing-back” seating configuration…luxurious stitching, with quilted accents, and comfortable armrests complete this unique seating option. Coupled with two “Yeti-Ready” cupholders.

Bowrider (Honerable Mention)
Truly the industry’s first Bowrider style pontoon, Bennington lowered the seating in the bow that increases driver sightlines while getting passengers closer to the water. Inspired by European sport cars, the sporty and sleek Bowrider is similar to stadium seating. Even with the integrated V-hull center pontoon, it’s still designed to fit standard boat lifts and trailers. Integrated into the backs of the bow furniture are dry storage spaces that are easily accessible while you are in or out of the boat and include USB ports inside. The Bowrider earned an honerable mention in the pontoon category. 

Five For One
Also considered for an NMMA Innovation Award was the Deluxe Swingback Lounger on the Bennington 23 R Series SB. All-new for 2020, the lounger gives you five layout in one including a forward-facing bench, forward-facing twin loungers with adjustable backrests, rear-facing lounge, rear-facing lounge with recline or pillow or a flat sun pad.

The lounger is self-contained with no cushions to stow and it provides easy access to cupholders and stereo controls.

ToyBox
Godfrey Pontoons entered its new ToyBox that is currently available on the brand-new   Monaco Cruise and SFL models. This new storage space is a large compartment that is ideal for storing inflated tubes while cruising around. The seat-turned-storage has space for large or small toys galore and on the cruise models the ToyBox is standard as an aft-facing seat.

The full length of the bench is supported by a sturdy bench rail that allows a great place to tie down large items like paddle boards or rolled up floats.

In The Zone
The new 2020 Solstice from Harris is a modern look at digital architecture in the pontoon segment with its seamless integration of the CZONE system. The CZONE helm integration controls all lighting systems (cupholders, rope, speakers, underwater, underdeck, and navigation) on the Solstice as well as tower control. Single-touch, pre-programmed modes work elegantly with Simrad screens and offer boaters intuitive control of lighting and tower for cruising, partying and docking.

The Solstice revolutionizes pontoon helms and electrical infrastructure with its state-of-the-art electrical architecture, efficient helm installation, user-friendly modes, and speedy diagnostics that will deliver a phenomenal lighting experience and ease typical electrical system issues.

Pinnacle Helm
The Grand Majestic RF model from Premier Pontoons has a few new innovations for model year 2020, including the Pinnacle helm. The new helm incorporates features consumers are already seeing in the automotive industry. For example, the superior wheel has push button audio and navigation controls at your fingertips, in order to keep the driver focused on driving. Included with the Pinnacle helm is a standard 12-inch Simrad display and charging your cell phone is easy with a fast-charging dual USB and a regular 12-volt outlet.

Vertical Lift Cooler
The other new feature on the Premier’s Grand Majestic RF is the PTX Vertical Lift Cooler. With a simple push of a button on the helm, a Yeti 45 cooler rises from the floor and drinks are easily accessible and can be lowered back down into the PTX tube when no longer needed. Not only does this free up space, but also prevents the cooler from sliding around on the deck when underway.

The Minneapolis Boat Show goes from today until Sunday and has over 200 pontoon boats on display.