PRESS RELEASE: Company planning breakthrough in marine safety gets vital boost from Marine-i

Paddle Logger Limited, a Cornish company which creates specialist software for watersports enthusiasts, is planning to launch a new service to help improve the safety of people when they are out on the water. This innovative development is being made possible by a Rapid Innovation Grant from Marine-i.

Part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, Marine-i is designed to help the marine tech sector in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly grow through harnessing the full potential of research and innovation.

Paddle Logger is a well-established company that already provides mobile apps which track paddlers using GNSS data, giving the user live feedback and data analytics. They can use the app on their Apple Watch or Apple iPhone. Now the company wants to take their technology a step further by enhancing the safety of users at sea by helping them stay connected, as their CEO, David Walker, explains:

“As the market grows and paddle sports become more and more popular, we believe that the industry has a responsibility to provide people with the tools they need to improve their skills, become more responsible paddlers and stay as safe as possible. So we have developed an easy to use, accessible system that will signal when a paddler is in difficulty at sea. We call the system Paddler in Trouble (PiT).

“It works like this. With very little setup and minimal hassle to the user, each paddler nominates a third party on shore, who they would be linked to via the system. We call this person their ‘digital land anchor.’ If they get into difficulty the third party will be notified. If the paddler needs urgent help, they can use PiT to immediately alert this third party with just one flick of a button on their iPhone.”

Matt Hodson, Operations Director of Marine Hub Cornwall at Cornwall Development Company and a partner of Marine-i says: “This is another great example of the pioneering marine innovation that is being driven by talented companies in Cornwall. Not only does PiT have the potential to reach a huge global market, but the technology being developed by Paddle Logger could also have future applications across a wide range of watersports.”

David Walker adds: “The grant from Marine-i will enable us to press ahead quickly with the detailed and rigorous testing required for PiT before we can release it. This includes the hardware we need to further test PiT across multiple devices. Thanks to the excellent support we have received from Marine-i, we can now take the final steps needed before a full commercial launch, making this a very exciting time for our business.”