“ Would I do it again? Crossing the ocean in an electric sailboat was so enjoyable compared to a sailboat with a diesel engine, I would never want to cross the ocean with a diesel engine ever again (pretty similar to how most Tesla owner feels about the idea of going back to driving a gas car).” The beginning of the beginning For example, we did use the Arcona 435Z motor for a long-time to get out of a dead zone of wind leaving the Canary Islands, getting down to around 20%, but through hydroregeneration, we ended up getting back up to 90% and pulling into Bermuda with over 50% charge in our battery bank. You can read the whole story »» on the Green Yachts site, but here’s a teaser:Īs our journey continued, we usually entered port with 50% or more of our battery bank due to our combination of using the motor less and hydroregenerating energy back into the battery bank. In 2019 Graham Balch of Green Yacht Sales wrote about What it’s Like to Cross the Atlantic Ocean in an Electric Sailboat. It already has the largest fleet of electric sailboats on the water, the first being the Arcona 380Z (for Zero emission) launched in 2015. Lagnéus says “The sleek and light hull design works extraordinarily well with electric propulsion, however our customers have seen the hydro regeneration commence when the yacht is sailing at a speed as low as 3.3 knots.” Crossing the Atlantic with zero emissionsĪrcona is also a pioneer in electric propulsion. The boatyard is known for ‘cruiser-racers’ which are designed to perform well in racing when the pilot has an expert team aboard, but also be comfortable, safe and easy to sail for relaxed family cruising. One of the keys for regen is achieving enough speed to get the propeller turning, and the Arcona yachts are well suited to the task. That electricity is then stored in the system’s battery pack for later use. In hydro regeneration (sometimes called just regeneration or ‘regen’) the electric motor can be instantly converted to an electricity-generating turbine that is turned by the ServoProp propeller while the boat is under wind power. It is the ServoProp with hydroregeneration that will be the standard on the Arcona 415, using a 15kW system and 19kWh battery pack. Their modular AXC series lets the user ‘stack’ motors to build power configurations of 10kW, 20kW, 30kW or 40kW and their patented ServoProp variable pitch sail drive was a 2017 category winner in the prestigious DAME awards that recognize the best-designed products in each year’s METSTRADE nautical trade show. To provide the motors and electric system the company turned to Oceanvolt, which was founded in 2004 by avid sailor Janne Kjellman and is a pioneer in zero emission propulsion for sailboats. Our cruisers sail beautifully in any conditions, but in light winds and close to marinas, if you need to use the engine, electric propulsion is the way forward.” Electric propulsion that recharges itself “The ability to spend your leisure time at sea without emissions, and yet gain advantages in comfort and performance, opens up a new world of opportunities for our normal usage. “Electric is here to stay” says Urban Lagnéus, Arcona Yachts CEO. Arcona obviously thinks most will go with the clean, quiet, zero emission system. Now it means that potential owners would have to specifically ask about diesel as an option, which then requires comparing its pros and cons to electric. Having electric as standard on a boat like the 415 marks a big change. Sweden’s Arcona Yachts has announced that their new Arcona 415 has Oceanvolt electric propulsion as a standard feature, a first for series-produced sailing yachts.
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