Off the Deck Launches New Golf Entertainment Experience

The yachting industry takes pride in offering experiences that can’t be matched. But when one crewmember noticed that onboard golfing experiences were lacking, it sparked a new idea, a new business in Off the Deck, and a brand-new product.

Ashley Hare, now chief technical officer at Off the Deck and a former chief mate in the yachting industry, started as a deckhand in 2007 and worked aboard vessels from 50 meters to 135 meters. As he explained, he worked with very basic golf setups throughout his crew career — cheap golf mats, old golf clubs, and water-soluble golf balls. It was very 1990s, he said, which certainly doesn’t work in an industry looking for the best of the best.

“Technology and entertainment offerings are normally steps ahead of what you can do on shore,” he said. “But when it came to golf, [yachting] was 30 years behind. There was a huge gap in the market and in the offering. We spotted that opportunity.”

Ashley and Cofounders CEO Alex Hare and CCO Alan Shubotham capitalized on that gap. Alex’s background in finance and as the former CFO of an indoor golf entertainment business, Alan’s entrepreneurial background and deep ties to professional golf, combined with Ashley’s extensive yachting knowledge, make for a dream team.

Their concept aimed to tackle the idea of turning every yacht beach club into the “world’s most exclusive golf entertainment experience.” Off the Deck was born, and with it, their plan to “reimagine golf entertainment on board superyachts and bring modern golf simulation technology to any yacht where there is space to swing a golf club, all without the need for any refit or reconfiguration,” Ashley said.

Ashley’s plan to shrink a golf simulation product into a small, lightweight, portable system came to fruition in the SeaDriveCX, a golf simulator solution. Off the Deck partnered with Formula One engineering firm Hooper Quinn for the technical design and production.

Crafted of Formula One-grade carbon fiber and designed by Formula One engineers, the SeaDriveCX weighs just 40 kilograms and is easily portable at one meter by 37 centimeters in size. The screen rises from the unit and has a 2,000-nit bright touchscreen for daytime use. It has a full LED lighting system for visibility at night. For hitting balls into the water, the machine is calibrated for the Off the Deck B1E golf ball, which is non-toxic and biodegradable, and offers golfers virtual access to 245 golf courses worldwide.

Need to keep the kids entertained? It can also be used for other interactive games, like darts, bowling, and more. Off the Deck will also host guest and crew competitions, which can be accessed directly from the SeaDriveCX. It will allow you to play versus the boat next to you in the marina or against friends on the other side of the world.

“The SeaDriveCX was designed from the ground up to be both stunning in design, so it looks at home on any superyacht, and to be able to operate in the marine environment,” Ashley said. The system is IP54-rated so that it can be left outside. It is designed for operations in ambient temperatures up to 44 degrees C and needs access to a power supply within 25 meters of setup. Each SeaDriveCX is handmade at the UK production facility and can be customized to each owner’s requirements.

Perhaps most importantly, the product is easy to use with a single-button operation. “We created the world’s first golf system that is zero installation, zero refit. It’s 100% plug and play and put away,” Alan said.

Off the Deck is also working with the software designer to map their B1E golf ball to a normalization algorithm. “Biodegradable golf balls don’t perform like real golf balls. They don’t fly as far,” Alan said. “But we’re going to have a setup that you toggle on to let the system know you’re using our B1E golf balls. Then, it will use the normalization algorithm to figure out exactly what a real golf ball would have done from the flight of our B1E golf ball.”

“A key principle for us is ‘Golf Anywhere.’ All you need is access to power, and you can set up your SeaDriveCX on your yacht, lakeside property, pier, private beach, etc.,” Ashley said.

Orders are being accepted now, and Off the Deck aims to deliver the units before mid-season next year. Look for the Off the Deck team at the upcoming Monaco Yacht Show.

Want more crew products? Check out Capt. Grant Maughan’s new book.