A 37m luxury yacht built by Chantier Naval Couach and captained by Michael Deliezas, MY Dragon is a spectacular vision to behold at sea. Until recently, however, its on-board technology was a different story. Some of its systems were no longer functioning properly and needed to be replaced, while network equipment, TVs, and speakers required an upgrade to deliver higher performance and support today’s video resolutions and sound formats. In addition, AV components had been installed locally in each cabin instead of a central rack — an arrangement that not only provided inadequate ventilation, but restricted access for maintenance. Finally, the yacht’s systems were difficult to use; requiring an upgrade to a control and automation system simple enough for anyone to operate — from the captain to the crew to the guests. To address all of these issues, London-based Advanced Integration Ltd. was called on to provide MY Dragon with a technological makeover, including an RTI control system.

Advanced Integration replaced the yacht’s lighting and shading systems with new solutions from Lutron. For powerful connectivity, a 10Gb Ethernet network was installed, with access points featuring AC technology covering the whole vessel with fast Wi-Fi. To provide guests with the ultimate on-board entertainment experience, MY Dragon’s AV receivers were updated with 4K models that support Dolby Atmos, while the yacht’s HD displays were swapped out for 4K TVs, including waterproof displays in the lower master bathroom and on the aft deck. MY Dragon’s outdoor speakers were also upgraded to premium models with digital amplification.

Instead of relying on local AV components in each cabin, Advanced Integration outfitted the yacht with a seven-zone movie server and Apple TV — powered by an 8x8 4K HDBaseT matrix switcher — that allows guests to watch movies and other content on any display, and a CasaTunes music server for streaming Pandora, Spotify, and other services throughout the yacht from any device. All of MY Dragon’s systems and components are centrally located in a retractable swivel rack in the lower master cabin, allowing the crew to perform maintenance without disturbing guests. For intuitive control over the yacht’s AV and environmental systems, Advanced Integration designed, programmed, and installed an RTI control and automation system.

“We chose RTI for this project because we required a robust, reliable system that is easily upgradeable as new components and technologies are added,” said Marios Tsiftis, CEO of Advanced Integration. “We also needed to provide the crew and guests with a completely customized interface to make operation of MY Dragon’s various systems as simple as possible. The RTI Integration Designer APEX programming software made it easy to meet both of these objectives.”

MY Dragon’s control system is powered by RTI XP-6s, XP-8v, and XP-3 Advanced Control Processors, with drivers providing seamless integration of Lutron lighting and shading systems, the CasaTunes music server, and an Apple TV. The yacht is outfitted with 10 iPad minis running the RTiPanel app with a completely customized GUI — one for each cabin and other areas of the boat, in addition to a master controller for the captain. With the iPads, users have simple control over each area’s lighting, shades, air conditioning, and displays, and can play video content from the movie server or Apple TV. In addition, they can stream music from the CasaTunes system, including their personal libraries on iOS devices via Bluetooth.

“MY Dragon’s RTI system has been a big hit,” added Marios. “The crew loves having control over the yacht’s myriad systems via mobile devices they are already familiar with, and guests get excited over how easy it is to enjoy such a high-tech luxury experience. It’s also proven to be exceptionally reliable, which is a very important quality when out at sea.”