Those actually look pretty good, I was expecting something that had a non planing hull

Cool!

SO: Who would like to buy a very rare​ 17' Boston Whaler SSL, in very good shape?

Yes, it really is an intriguing concept. I'm thinking in a different direction, however, as follows:

in that a sailboat's keel bulb often is the single heaviest element of its structure, what a concept it would be to replace all that dead weight with the craft's battery bank. You then have the start to the best of both worlds: a sailboat powered by wind when available, and by silent electric propulsion when the wind fails. ALWAYS silent running.

Query: could one possibly have enough deck space to gather photons to re-charge the batteries? Probably not....

I'm all for hybrid boats!

gunboat.com

Can do low speed, tight maneuvering via electricity. And high speed cruising via wind. Plus it has regen and solar panels to keep the battery bank topped off. The 60 series is the sweet spot.


These guys are the Tesla of boats!

RobStark said:

Meet Purewatercraft: This startup is building the ‘Tesla for boats’

by Taylor Soper

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No they aren't. It looks as if they took an electric motor and bolted it to the outside of an IO drive :scared: This makes no sense for two reasons, it adds unnecessary production cost, when it's quite easy to bolt it up to the in board input shaft, and it means the motor is hanging off the drive, under water, and vulnerable to being struck. The run time is also nothing special.


Anne Kloppenborg from New Electric is doing a better job in my opinion

RobStark said:

With quiet electric motors motorboating is like sailing with the wind always at your back.

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Only from the sound point of view, sailing is always a more comfortable ride than a power boat, the large keel combined with the sail smooth out a lot of the chop you get in power boats.

AudubonB said:

in that a sailboat's keel bulb often is the single heaviest element of its structure, what a concept it would be to replace all that dead weight with the craft's battery bank

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I like the idea, but it would probably make servicing quite difficult, and there's certainly some risk to placing batteries where you're most likely to damage them if you ground out on something, but there's a definite advantage to making your weight practical!

AudubonB said:

Query: could one possibly have enough deck space to gather photons to re-charge the batteries? Probably not....

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not really, generally the same issues as with electric cars arise, sure you could, but the charge time probably wouldn't be worth it. Small wind generators (to be used while anchored) might be more useful, (I wonder if a regenerative braking type feature would be of any use while anchored for generation from current?)

green1 said:

Only from the sound point of view, sailing is always a more comfortable ride than a power boat, the large keel combined with the sail smooth out a lot of the chop you get in power boats.

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Depends. A planing hull can often ride the wave tops if they aren't too large. Also, if you've ever been on a sailboat that's been knocked down by a gust you might take a different view of sailing always being more comfortable :wink:

There are boats with enough deck space to make solar very effective:

http://www.planetsolar.org/

JRP3 said:

Depends. A planing hull can often ride the wave tops if they aren't too large. Also, if you've ever been on a sailboat that's been knocked down by a gust you might take a different view of sailing always being more comfortable :wink:

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I have sailed quite a bit, and sure, handled wrong a sailboat can cause you quite a bit of misery (I've capsized a few times), but the same is true for a power boat. Set your sails right though and it's a nice smooth ride.