this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2024
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Big part of this would be that its a foiling boat and that massively reduces drag from the water. Keeping weight and drag down are the secret to improving efficiency for EVs be they boats or cars. Any decent marina its easy to get multiple 22kw shore supply as well, it can be expensive and metered but you aren't going to be waiting that long to recharge your boat.
Electric makes the most sense on sail boats as they already have a green source of energy, and thanks to hydro they can convert some of that motion generated by the wind into charge for the batteries. Couple with solar and you start to look at a decent amount of energy generation.
Sail boats also tend to have far less powerful ICE than your average motor yacht, so you need less powerful EV motors to achieve the same speed, and in the right conditions you only really need the motor getting in and out of the harbor so your battery bank is smaller and lighter. Plus you could make the batteries do double duty as the house batteries as well.
The trick will be to get the super rich out of their shitty super yachts that burn a couple of thousand dollars of fuel per hour, they could already have sail boats but choose not to for the increased living space that they can get out of the same length of boat due to being able to build much higher due to no masts.
Admittedly it's WAY easier to operate a motor boat than a sail boat, so depending on how you like to recreationally bleed your unlimited money I can see reasons for that choice.
But I fully agree that we've had renewable energy-based ships with unlimited range for millenia. The claim that "The aim was to demonstrate that zero-emission sea travel [is possible today]" broke my brain a little.
Super rich all have crewed boats, so its mostly to do with living space per foot of boat length or them as they just pay their way around the skill issue. Those who do like to occasionally pilot or race their own boat tend to have sailing boats as they are much more rewarding to sail.
The bits that are different between a motor and sail yacht is really just the sails, that part is actually pretty simple to learn (mastering is something else). In mast/boom mains, electric furling head sails, hydraulic or electric winches, all make operating the sails push button.
The navigation and marina skills are the same, if you have bow thrusters. As everything else is at a slower pace, sail boats are easier to get to grips with when under way and new to sailing.
I completely get that not everybody wants to tack their way upwind, but its the pleasure in actually sailing in silence rather than a noisy and smelly motor that is the reward here. That, and the cost saving. I can do two weeks sailing covering hundreds of nautical miles for £50 in fuel for a 40 foot sail boat and that's with having to run the motor as a generator to charge the batteries (charter boats suck for house electrics and solar), vs. £500 ish for a motor yacht.
Sitting here reading about sail boats being easier to maneuver in harbors cause of bow thrusters, after having dealt with major prop walk just the other day in high winds while docking. The trick is keeping water moving past your rudder. Once your down to a knot or under things get dicey. Even with thrusters.
Such high winds impacts motor yachts as well, especially high sided ones. Most of the boats I've sailed are without bow thrusters require lines to manveur in even moderate winds in tight marinas. Bow thrusters makes it push button in moderate wind.
Hah. Your bar for "super rich" and mine may be in different places.
And you're preaching to the choir, I'd much rather sail myself. But nerding out about the specifics aside, it's very weird to leave it out of the renewable-powered sea travel conversation the way these guys are doing.
Super rich for me is being able to run a motor yacht that's typically way over 100 feet with 4 or more crew on average of 100k each. Captain might be on anything up to 250k with a decent tonnage license and experience. High chance of a chase boat with its own separate crew.
The running costs of that boat would bankrupt even a decently wealthy millionaire in a year or two.
Rich is being able to run a modern 50 foot plus motor yacht for coastal cruising without a crew. Or a recent 50 foot sailboat with all the trimmings like an oyster.
But those are just my definitions.
I think idiots like bezos with his pathetic cosplay of a sailing boat that can't even sail with more than one mast unfurled really don't help the perception of sailing with the super rich.
We need more boats like the black pearl that can actually sail and be off grid on renewables for proper ocean crossing. Shame that most super rich just fly to their boat rather than actually crossing the oceans on them.