Sailboats have mythical status as the first choice of a lottery winner to sail off into the sunset because it is a grand act but also because that millionaire has nowhere else to be. Getting places is what humans love to do - or being places, not necessarily getting there. On a sailboat with a top speed of 7 or 8 mph you're not getting anywhere fast so you have to tell yourself the journey is the point not the destination. But what if the destination really is the objective?
Sailors love to poke fun at the powerboats that charge up to a spectacular and remote location like Chatterbox Falls or even Desolation Sound using fuel measured by weight in some cases. "How much fuel did you go through getting up here?" a sailboater said once in just such a location.
"About 3 hours" came the response. "How about you? Probably 3 days. Or longer. I had breakfast at home this morning and we were here by lunchtime." A flash of realization is visible across the sailors' faces before they wave us off with "The journey's the point, not the destination." Yeah, except work often requires us to be in cities. With the right vessel, one could spend a long weekend somewhere quite remote with one day to travel up, 2 days at leisure and a day returning home. Now, wouldn't that be fabulous.
The only other constraint beyond time is fuel. Every boat has a max range before refueling. And at what cost? Not to mention the regular maintenance of an important motor you don't want quitting in the middle of a trip.
With a Hydrofoil it could be done riding above the waves in elegant smooth silence. And if it is an electric Hydrofoil fueled by the power from onboard solar panels, the possibility of a boat with infinite range becomes possible.
Imagine a boat you can stay on for a weekend that doesn't require you to go from outpost to outpost for fuel but can move across the water more quickly and efficiently than a sailboat, running on electric power. Quiet, and because it also rides on hydrofoils, smooth as if it were effortless. Gliding above the waves and chop on a hydrofoil wing designed to get the boat out of the water at a very low speed would mark a revolution in marine transport. And to be able to maintain that lift using no more power than what the onboard solar panels are able to gather from surfaces would mean infinite range.
With that on my mid, a friend told me about a boat called the Greenline. A so-called trawler, so it's whole hull is in the water at all times, it has both a diesel main engine and an electric motor fueled in part by solar panels on the roof that can move the boat at 6 knots just on the energy gathered from the solar panels alone. So the boat effectively has infinite range. It can go forever as long as the sun shines (and good solar panels pull plenty of power on a cloudy day as well). A great idea but now imagine that speed is more like 12 knots or more without draining the battery. At that speed, you could truly cover distance over water but to do that the boat must be up on a hydrofoil.
A long list of technical issues combat the practicality of running a hydrofoil boat over long distances, especially one driven by electric propulsion. The key is to have enough solar panel area and a large enough battery pack to store energy while underway or at anchor so your range exceeds your trip. Once the boat is up on its hydrofoil wings the energy required to keep it there is minimal. And with such a reduction in friction the result is a smooth, quiet, electric foil boat that rides above the chop and waves in an elegant, effortless glide. With electric motors the mechanical maintenance is dramatically reduced (because it has substantially fewer moving parts than any gas or diesel motor) and infinite range at a low but still practical speed.
The ultimate design of this boat will be one with a layout inside like any other 33 foot motor yacht or sailboat, with a stateroom or V-Berth up front and other bunks aft to comfortably sleep 4 adults or a slightly larger family with kids. It would also have a galley and shower/toilet and table to eat at just as one would find on any yacht and a cruising speed with a net-zero energy use of 12 knots/hour. Now that can get you somewhere.
In many ways this will be the Tesla Model S of weekend yachts.
As I searched for others who may have tackled and solved the many issues that arise from getting a boat up on a foil and doing so with electric power, I came across a good example of both style and great design in the Foiler pictured below. But this boat is designed as a million dollar tender (one million Euro actually) for a super yacht not the weekend getaway craft I have in mind. The brilliant development here is the shape and position of the foils. Hinged on the underside of the hull these foils can fold up and out of the way brilliantly when the boat has its hull in the water and their folded position is perfect for docking or even putting the boat on a trailer.
A key issue with hydrofoils is how the foil itself is positioned in the water. If it is fully submerged the foil likely requires stabilizing software and constant adjustment. If the foil breaks the surface of the water at an angle it becomes naturally stable because the foils on each side automatically lift and rolls the boat back toward the center. When both sides do this it becomes a very stable foil with no stabilizing software or adjustment required because when the boat rolls to one side that foil has more of its wing into the water producing more lift (and more drag) while the foil on the other side does the opposite producing less lift as more of it comes out of the water. This naturally rolls the boat into its center-most and stable position.
The example of the Foiler (pictured) also uses two big gasoline-powered BMW engines for thrust and uses the electric motors for only a short time mostly because the boat is optimized for speed rather than range. With a few modifications, this new design could become “the slowest hydrofoil ever made.” Specifically designed to rise up and maintain a foil at the lowest speed possible (9 knots?) and to cruise at a reasonable 12 - 15 knots/hour To do this the foil wings will have to be large and thereby create massive drag. Top speed may only be 20 or 25 knots rather than the theoretical 52 knot maximum speed for a foil but 10 - 15 knots is perfect for cruising. And with every available surface covered in solar panels to gather the sun’s energy the idea will be to maintain a gentle cruising speed up on the foils that uses no more energy than what is collected from the sun. That way the boat will have infinite range at a reasonable speed on a sunny day.
When Elon Musk was asked about the Model S sedan and why he designed it the way he did, his response was that he wanted a stylish car that would take his whole family (himself, his wife and three kids). The Model S of Boats has similar goals - to take a family out on the water for a weekend in style and without using anything other than the power of the sun not unlike the way a sailing yacht is capable of doing, but in this case you are not constrained by a max 6 knots under motoring or tacking along a less direct route under sail.
A long roof covering most of the length of the boat as well as other surfaces designed to house additional solar panels that gather the maximum power possible from the sun. With batteries positioned at the central section of the boat because of their weight and a rack above the roof used to put radio antennae, GPS and radar not to mention potentially a vertical wind turbine to gather more energy.
Prudence demands backup systems as any sailor would argue so a diesel generator onboard would be a likely if not necessary addition, but the system would be a serial hybrid where the fuel motor would not drive the boat directly rather it would generate power for the battery pack to run systems on the boat and to extend range. This further reduces maintenance and points of failure by eliminating the mechanical extensions to a drive system from gears and a transmission to extra drive shafts or other elements.
The question I have yet to answer is how big a foil is required to get this 30 - 33 foot boat up out of the water at a low speed and how much energy is needed not only to launch it but also to maintain a foil. Again, slow being the target not high speed. Once up on a foil the amount of energy required to keep the boat there is minimal so coming in and out of the water constantly will be one of the most taxing activities on the battery pack so allowing the boat to maintain a very slow cruising speed will be essential and ultimately quite beneficial.
Blake Corbet is not famous but his uncle climbed Everest and has the most wicked ski run in the world named after him, his cousin rowed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, and his Grandfather brought the first neon sign to Vancouver a hundred years ago so he is happily anonymous but feeling in good company.
Blake Corbet is not famous but his uncle climbed Everest and has the most wicked ski run in the world named after him, his cousin rowed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, and his Grandfather brought the first neon sign to Vancouver a hundred years ago so he is happily anonymous but feeling in good company.
DMRMarine - tell me when you've seen this...
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