"In 2-3 years time, we won't fit another Diesel engine"

[DownWest]

Yeah. What a disaster of a design: only lasted for sixty years, forty after a serious attempt by the manufacturer to kill it off.

If only they'd listened.

It was a sporty off shoot of the 'Peoples Car' that Hitler promoted for the 'people'. Only got going after the war with the help of the Brits. It was always badly balanced and promoted a hairy chested cult of petrol heads that said that only 'real drivers' could use them properly.
When Porsche started building (OK, with VW) cars like the 912 ,944, that actually delivered. The cult following dissed them, so they reverted to the engine in the back. Now, the mid engined Boxter is the top seller...
No real logic to the following of the 911 series, except that it was very fast compared with the opposition, until you exceeded it's limits, into the green stuff.

 

[Bouba]

A solar boat for crossing the Atlantic...
Silent Yachts 60 (2022-)

 

[Whaup367]

It was a sporty off shoot of the 'Peoples Car' that Hitler promoted for the 'people'. Only got going after the war with the help of the Brits. It was always badly balanced and promoted a hairy chested cult of petrol heads that said that only 'real drivers' could use them properly.
When Porsche started building (OK, with VW) cars like the 912 ,944, that actually delivered. The cult following dissed them, so they reverted to the engine in the back. Now, the mid engined Boxter is the top seller...
No real logic to the following of the 911 series, except that it was very fast compared with the opposition, until you exceeded it's limits, into the green stuff.

The 928 was supposed to replace it. That didn't go well.

I disagree: the 911 was (is? I dunno) reliable, durable, versatile, attractive and above all highly entertaining to drive. IMHO, the following is well justified.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

The weight distribution in the 911 was solved long ago, it's reputation as a widow maker is long gone.

 

[DownWest]

The weight distribution in the 911 was solved long ago, it's reputation as a widow maker is long gone.

Might be wrong, cos I don't pay much attention to them, but the balance was only really sorted with electronics?
Looked at a 911S in the early 70s, needed a bit of body work on a corner. That was not a problem, but the exhaust system was rubbish and the new one was more than the car cost! Just as well, as with the rear bias and no 'help' back then, Likely I would have trashed it (and myself..)

 

[Slowboat35]

And I expect we'll all be commuting to our electric boats by electric VTOL drones that have also somehow managed to defy the laws of physics...
Me. I'll still drive to the marina in a car and use my diesel engine to get out of the marina, and on to Cherbourg too if the wind doesn't blow.
See ya'll down there, lemings! Maybe next month?

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I don't accept the idea that there is a proper way to go cruising, when everyone is supposed to go everywhere under sail alone. This is clearly the case for ocean sailors and those who only do day sails or racing. However, there are many of us who go sailing with family crews and the modern cruising yacht which will average 6+ knots under sail or motor enables us to expand our sailing horizons all around Europe to take one example. 55 miles range will scarcely allow you to negotiate the Kiel Canal for example, and although I once met three men who had taken three days to sail from Rye to Dieppe, not many of us have the nerve or time to spend that much time wallowing around in the shipping-lanes.

I daresay eventually canals will have charging facilities. And for me, I cannot accept a sail boat that cannot sail. It’s why we have the boat we do. I accept that it’s compromised in other ways. It's not all that comfortable, it’s certainly got no pretensions to luxury, it’s only cat B certified. None of that bothers me, our VMG to windward is rarely beaten by any sailing boat. We don’t need range under engine. If your compromises are different, I don’t mind at all. But when we’re all wresting with only 55 miles under power, your priorities will need to be revised. And a huge number of other people too. Electric auxiliary engines are going to be a total game changer.

 

[doug748]

I have no great affection for internal combustion engines and would love a nice quiet, clean and fume free electric motor. However the present state of development comes up well short for most cruisers and, unless there is some unexpected innovation, I don't see it getting much better in quick time. 20years maybe for general use, unless electric is foisted on new buyers by politicians.

 

[Charlie Boy]

watched the interview, no mention of battery size, weight or (particularly) longevity.
BUT if the technical improvements go exponential then I agree, it’s a no brainer

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I have no great affection for internal combustion engines and would love a nice quiet, clean and fume free electric motor. However the present state of development comes up well short for most cruisers and, unless there is some unexpected innovation, I don't see it getting much better in quick time. 20years maybe for general use, unless electric is foisted on new buyers by politicians.

Our esteemed leaders would never do that, would they.

 

[Bouba]

The trick to making electric cars is, as Elon Musk showed us, to build the infrastructure at the same time. All the ports need electrification, then we can have small boats using electric car technology. When electric trucks become ubiquitous we can then transfer the technology and have large electric boats. In the meantime, only hybrid and solar make sense. Already many lakes are electric only, where you can bring your own electric boat or hire one (including electric jet skis), this has been available for decades now, but has never made the leap.
It really is a case of when not if...but early adopters will, as always, be financing it

 

[geem]

55 miles on engine in a sailing yacht? That’s about what we have, if I’ve got enough cans on board. Fortunately, ours, like the Spirit, is indeed a sailing yacht. If there's any wind, you can sail. Is this not what all of us raggers want? If you want to motor everywhere, buy a motor boat, I daresay they’re better at it. We’ll go electric as soon as it’s practical weight wise. Currently the batteries would be too heavy to be possible.

We are the other end of the spectrum. We have 1000nm range on the engine in flat water. For the kind of cruising we do the range is essential. Trying to get from Colombia to the ABCs is an uphill battle. You generally pick a Tropical event going through the Caribbean to create a wind reversal then you give it full wack on the engine to make the several hundred mile passage East before the East winds drop back in. The alternative is 25k-30kts on the nose and 1.5kts of adverse current and big seas. That section of the Caribbean has a reputation for being one of the windiest and roughest trip on the planet. No place for electric drive and minimal range. There have been plenty of other instances when we have been glad to have a 4.4 litre diesel under the cockpit floor and the ability to motor at high speed for several hours.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

And fortunately for you, our clueless politicians have no influence on your favoured cruising zone. I reckon a ban on new ICE in marine use will follow the road use one, as soon as some goon thinks of it.

 

[Ink]

The point of an electric Porsche is often a huge tax saving over a traditional Porsche as a company car.
(Though the Taycan is also a very capable car - and perhaps will finally bury the 911 legacy of weight in the wrong place)

Surely an electric Porsche as a company car and all its tax advantages is totally different from purchasing an electric Porsche?

No one has suggested that the purchase of a Spirit yacht with an electric engine is down to tax?

Ink

 

[Supertramp]

I'm sure the shift to electric power will continue. Geem and Chiara’s slave represent two alternative ways of sailing. 55 miles is a bit restrictive but plenty long term cruisers manage with much less than 1000 miles. I think the key will be in battery technology. Lots of boats are already festooned with solar panels, windmills, generators which provide part of the puzzle. Next is affordable storage to allow several hundred miles of range. As is usual with new technology, it will be adopted by a few at high cost and then trickle down to the rest of us and probably encompass retro fitting. I could fit a full tonne of batteries in the space where my fuel tanks and engine are. Maybe less 150kg for an electric engine.... An inventive mind needs to make it possible and affordable. If its not Elon, someone will appear with an answer (at a reasonable price).

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I sincerely hope it comes. The maths is a factor of 5 short for us, not on feasible capacity or volume, just weight and cost.

 

[TLouth7]

can someone tell me how noisy (or not) is electric propulsion in a yacht? Does it ease one to that lovely moment in a conventional yacht when you switch off the motor and silent wind power takes over?

I fitted electric propulsion to my yacht. It's a permanent magnet motor with a timing belt drive so far from silent, but more a hum than an engine throb. It also hums in regen mode when the prop is spinning when we are sailing above ~6 knots. It must be quite a lot quieter than the old Penta because I really notice the sound of the stern gear rotating, though that is directly under my feet in the cockpit.

The wonderful feature is that when you aren't applying power there is no noise. So you come off the throttle a few feet from the pontoon and there is silence, no need to yell to the foredeck crew. I have disconcerted a few neighbours by appearing to push off the pontoon when leaving without having turned my engine on.

 

[boomerangben]

Interesting to think that about 2 generations ago the widespread adoption of diesel or petrol auxiliary engines were viewed with suspicion, contempt or fear and yet are now ubiquitous. Technology has to start somewhere

 

[AngusMcDoon]

55 miles is a bit restrictive...

55 miles is a choice, maybe to keep weight down, which is a suitable justification on a trimaran, but still a choice. My Dragonfly 920 had a range of 200 miles.

 

[johnalison]

I daresay eventually canals will have charging facilities. And for me, I cannot accept a sail boat that cannot sail. It’s why we have the boat we do. I accept that it’s compromised in other ways. It's not all that comfortable, it’s certainly got no pretensions to luxury, it’s only cat B certified. None of that bothers me, our VMG to windward is rarely beaten by any sailing boat. We don’t need range under engine. If your compromises are different, I don’t mind at all. But when we’re all wresting with only 55 miles under power, your priorities will need to be revised. And a huge number of other people too. Electric auxiliary engines are going to be a total game changer.

My boat sails very well thank you. Not only does it handle beautifully but, although not a racer as such, it is at least as fast as most of its contemporaries of 20 yrs ago but faster than most. In spite of this, its 27hp engine with a folding prop and 145l fuel tank allows me to motor at around 6.5 kn in theory for up to 72 hours or over 400 miles. Of course I don’t normally do this but my trips to the Baltic often took over fifty hours in open water, much of it under power, not from choice but because I had no desire to wait a week or so for the weather to change. Back in the 70s there were certainly compromises required for a sailing boat to motor well but todays cruising yachts have very respectable motoring performances, though not all builders instal large enough fuel tanks for relaxed cruising. I have sailed in company with similar boats and only 90l fuel tanks and the difference in cruising comfort was noticeable.