Dynamic Positioning on yachts?

Some of the bigger ones use it but it seems to be more of a novelty at the moment. I am yet to see one with a fully certified DP setup.

I don't know any that small that have even rudimentary DP. Double the size and there a few. Most of them are also way over 1600 tons so the Masters require unlimited tickets.

My dad had a "freeze button" on his 42' Sabre.....

Zeus pods, bow thruster and GPS all plumbed into one brain.....

Probably not the same thing.....

The "old" 76m Ocean Victory has DP.

There are other recreational boats with Kongsberg and with Bridge Mate and there may be others out there in use. I don't know of a Thrustmaster in a recreational application.

According to the Sabre brochure, the system name is Skyhook. It mentions it being useful while waiting for locks, bridges etc.

That name rings a bell. Also very handy for anchoring, or even just untying/tying up in your slip. It really worked.

Skyhook is Mercury's name for their product. Zeus is one of their systems.

I think on the yacht system it's input is purely GPS position, course and ground speed. The Sabre I mentioned came with a joy stick which controlled the two Zeus pods and bow thruster. Literally point the stick in the right direction and that's where the boat will go, including sideways. The "freeze button" was a simple button on the joystick pad. There was no other above deck equipment associated with it.

The more complex systems have some features Skyhook and IPS don't. They allow you to adjust the precision of the positioning, to follow routes or position relative to other boats, to follow headings, to change position. Skyhook and Volvo's system are more the auto mooring features of fully DP systems. Their purpose is to just hold you in position.

Now I think for recreational boats, the real future is integrating the DP systems with the other onboard systems but not all from the provider of the DP.

The major DP companies have built more compact systems now. The Kongsberg cPOS (compact system) is more aimed toward smaller boats than the systems you're use to. It's a single monitor and small joystick station. Bridge Mate looks like a video game console in a game room. However, they also have a compact version that is a small monitor and a joystick. Either of those two control systems will fit easily on a modest sized boat. Now, that boat must also have other systems that will allow them to work effectively. One of the common stumbling blocks is thrusters that can be used on a nearly continuous basis and propulsion that sets up well for the system. Pods are certainly where it's been easiest to implement systems.

What's kind of interesting is that the Sabre 42 and 48 series have the Zeus drives and Skyhook while the 38 and 54 series have the IPS pod drives but no mention of Skyhook or its equivalent. I took this info off their brochure and website.

DP1 is the most rudimentary of them all a single failure can result in loss of position.

If all you DP time is on a DP 1 vessel you will not get a full DP Certificate of Competency.