Lanyard system and method for a marine vessel

1. A wireless lanyard system for a marine vessel propelled by at least one propulsion device, the system comprising:

an operator fob worn by an operator of the marine vessel;

a helm transceiver at a helm area of the marine vessel configured to receive radio signals from the operator fob;

a lanyard control module executable on a processor and configured to:

determine based on communications between the operator fob and the helm transceiver whether the operator is within a permitted zone with respect to the helm area;

generate a lanyard event when the operator is not within the permitted zone;

wherein the system is configured such that, upon generation of the lanyard event, the propulsion device is controlled to reduce an engine rpm of an engine in the propulsion device to an idle rpm and/or to turn off the propulsion device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lanyard control module is further configured such that no lanyard event is generated when a gear system of the propulsion device is in a neutral gear position.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lanyard control module is further configured such that no lanyard event is generated when the engine rpm is below a predetermined threshold rpm.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lanyard control module is further configured such that no lanyard event is generated when a vessel speed of the marine vessel is below a threshold vessel speed.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lanyard control module is further configured to:

generate a warning alert upon detecting that the operator is not within the permitted zone; and

determine that the operator is not within the permitted zone for a predefined warning period prior to generating the lanyard event.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein upon generation of the lanyard event the engine rpm is reduced to the idle rpm, and wherein the system is further configured to, following generation of a lanyard event, control a gear system of the propulsion device to shift to a neutral gear position.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a passenger fob worn by a passenger of the marine vessel;

wherein the helm transceiver and the passenger fob are configured to wirelessly communicate to determine whether the passenger is present on the marine vessel;

wherein the lanyard control module is further configured to generate a passenger overboard alert when the passenger is not present on the marine vessel; and

wherein the system is further configured such that no passenger overboard alert is generated when the at least one of a gear system of the propulsion device is in a neutral gear position, the engine rpm is below a predetermined threshold rpm, and a vessel speed of the marine vessel is below a threshold vessel speed.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lanyard control module is further configured to adjust a radius of the permitted zone based on at least one of the engine rpm or a vessel speed, wherein the radius decreases as the engine rpm increases or the vessel speed increases.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the lanyard control module is further configured to determine an operator distance between the operator fob and the helm transceiver based on radio signals communicated therebetween and to determine that the operator is not within the permitted zone by when the operator distance is greater than the radius.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lanyard control module is further configured to:

receive GPS location of the marine vessel; and

adjust a radius of the permitted zone based on the GPS location.

11. A lanyard system for a marine vessel propelled by at least one propulsion device, the system comprising:

an operator device worn by an operator of the marine vessel;

a receiver device at a helm area of the marine vessel, wherein the receiver device is configured to detect whether the operator is within a permitted zone with respect to the helm area;

a lanyard control module executable on a processor and configured to:

generate a lanyard event when the operator is not detected within the permitted zone;

upon generating a lanyard event, reduce an engine rpm of an engine in the propulsion device to an idle rpm; and

control a gear system of the propulsion device to shift to a neutral gear position.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the system is further configured such that no lanyard event is generated when at least one of the gear system of the propulsion device is in the neutral gear position, the engine rpm is below a predetermined threshold rpm, and a vessel speed of the marine vessel is below a threshold vessel speed.

13. A method of operating a wireless lanyard system on a marine vessel having at least one propulsion device, the method comprising:

defining a permitted zone with respect to a helm area where an operator should occupy based on one or more conditions of the marine vessel;

generating a location inquiry signal by a helm transceiver at the helm area of the marine vessel;

receiving an operator location signal from an operator fob worn by the operator of the marine vessel in response to the location inquiry signal;

determining whether the operator is within the permitted zone with respect to the helm area based on the operator location signal;

generating a lanyard event when the operator is not within the permitted zone; and

upon generation of the lanyard event, controlling the propulsion device to reduce an engine rpm to an idle rpm or to turn off the propulsion device.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein upon generation of the lanyard event the engine rpm is reduced to idle rpm at a predetermined rpm reduction rate, and further comprising:

detecting that the engine rpm is within a predefined range of an idle setpoint; and

automatically controlling gear system of the propulsion device to shift to a neutral gear position.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, upon controlling the gear system to shift to the neutral gear position, disabling the wireless lanyard system such that no subsequent lanyard event is generated.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the permitted zone is defined with respect to at least one of engine rpm or vessel speed, and further comprising:

adjusting a radius of the permitted zone based on the at least one of the engine rpm or a vessel speed, wherein the radius is decreased as the engine rpm or the vessel speed increases.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

determining an operator distance between the operator fob and the helm transceiver based on the operator location signal; and

determining whether the operator distance is within a permitted zone based on a comparison between the operator distance and the radius.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

generating a warning alert upon detecting that the operator is not within the permitted zone; and

determining that the operator is not within the permitted zone for a predefined warning period prior to generating the lanyard event.

19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

receiving a GPS location of the marine vessel; and

adjusting a radius of the permitted zone based on the GPS location of the marine vessel.

20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising disabling the wireless lanyard system such that no lanyard event is generated when at least one of a gear system of the propulsion device is in a neutral gear position, the engine rpm is below a predetermined threshold rpm, and a vessel speed of the marine vessel is below a threshold vessel speed.