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Yachting World

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First look: Zen50 – innovative wingsail rig

• Rupert Holmes
• August 19, 2022

Rupert Holmes looks at the a new catamaran with an innovative wingsail and a vast solar array for sustainable cruising, the Zen50

Product Overview

How far is it possible to push the concept of this kind of yacht? Maltese firm Zero Emission Nautic has gone further than most with its Zen50, thanks to the desire to maximise the surface area for solar panels, plus an innovative wingsail rig that has its origins in America’s Cup technology.

It might be easy to dismiss this design as one that’s not a ‘proper’ yacht thanks to its styling, but the history of yacht design tells us shapes that were once considered unacceptable are often eventually adopted into the mainstream. This boat may yet be more representative of the future of cruising yachts than many of us are comfortable with right now!

Wingsail has been developed for leisure craft and at a larger scale for sail-assisted cargo ships

Lightweight carbon fibre and Corecell construction keeps the light displacement down to only 16 tonnes, despite the high freeboard, while the extended hardtops offer lots of shade and enough space for a massive 17kW of solar. That gives a generating capacity of more than 1kW per tonne of displacement, making this a vessel that can generate a significant proportion of the power needed to propel it at moderate speeds under power. As a result the boat can motor almost indefinitely at speeds between 6-10 knots.

The collapsible OceanWings wingsail concept was originally developed for Team Oracle in the 2010 America’s Cup. Since then it has been further developed and automated by French raceboat design office VPLP.

Zen50 specifications

LOA: 15.70m / 51ft 6in Beam: 8.40m / 27ft 7in Draught: 1.30m / 4ft 4in Displacement: 16,000kg / 35,280lb Price: from approx US$2,000,000 Builder: zenyachts.com

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Electric boats

Silent yachts, silent yachts launches solar catamaran with kite wing sail and 100 mile daily range from the sun.

Solar boat engineer and designer Silent Yachts has shared new details of the SILENT-60, a 60′ catamaran with 42 solar panels and two electric propelled motors backed by 286 kWh of battery capacity. While Silent Yachts’ solar-powered vessels are all unique, the SILENT-60 will also be fitted with a 9-13 square meter kite wing, generating additional clean power to pull the yacht.

Silent Yachts was founded by Heike and Michael Köhle, who together have sailed over 75,000 nautical miles around the world, and decided there had to be a better way to propel yachts with clean energy.

After beginning research into solar yacht technologies in 2004, Silent Yachts gathered five years of sailing data and constructed its first fully self-sufficient solar-powered catamaran , the Solarwave 46.

After a five-year trial at sea that began in 2010, Silent Yachts had a proven solar yacht concept, and began serial production of luxury sustainable vessels in 2016 with the SILENT-64. By 2018, The SILENT-64 had become the first serial-production solar-powered bluewater catamaran to cross the Atlantic, from Cartagena, Spain to Barbados in 16 days.

In 2020, the company announced a partnership with Volkswagen Group , which will supply all the components and batteries for a new 50-foot yacht. The yacht will be designed with the help of Cupra, and will utilize VW’s MEB Platform.

Earlier this year, Silent Yachts launched the SILENT-60 as a more powerful, revamped generation of the SILENT-64. With the company’s latest announcement, the SILENT-60 catamaran looks to separate itself from other solar yachts by utilizing even more sustainable propulsion techniques.

The SILENT-60 solar yacht specs

In addition to being a yacht completely powered using solar energy, Silent Yachts has now shared an additional kite wing option that can deliver even more clean range to the Silent-60.

According to the press release, the SILENT-60 will be the first vessel to be fitted with a nine or 13 square meter kite wing, although the option will now be available on all Silent Yacht models.

After deploying the compact kite, it drifts away on the surface of the water before pulling taught and launching into the air. When it reaches its optimal flight height, the kite begins to trace a “figure 8” in the sky, generating additional power to pull the solar yacht. Silent Yacht founder Michael Köhler elaborates:

The main advantages of a kite over a conventional sail system are that it does not throw shade on the solar panels, does not need a tall mast, and generates up to 10 times more power per square meter than a traditional sail. In addition to that it saves about 1.5 tons of weight compared to conventional rig and costs much less. It makes even more sense for the SILENT boats that run on renewable solar energy because the power generated by a kite easily exceeds the energy consumption of the system, so you can charge the batteries while cruising under kite power. And besides that, it’s great fun!

When yacht owners want to stop kiting, an automated app controls the kite, moving it to a position right above the boat where it has the least pull on the line. This allows for more easy electric winching down over the foredeck for stowage.

In addition to the wind kite option, the SILENT-60 yacht comes with 42 solar panels, garnering 17 kWp of energy from the sun to power two, 340 kW electric motors. The system is backed by a battery capacity up to 286 kWh.

As a required safety measure, the SILENT-60 is equipped with a generator and 1,000 liters of fuel. However, according to the Silent-Yachts’ owners, they almost never use it because they have enough solar power and electric energy.

According to Silent Yachts, the SILENT-60 can cruise efficiently with zero emissions using solar power only for up to 100 nautical miles a day and can maintain that pace for weeks. The vessel’s cruise speed is six to eight knots, but it can get up to a top speed of 20 knots using the all-electric motors.

The SILENT-60 comes with four guest cabins but can be designed with a custom layout for those willing to pay a bit more. Speaking of which, the SILENT-60 starts at 2.39 million euros ($2.69 million).

The first of these SILENT-60 solar yachts was built in Thailand, but the company plans to build future units in Italy. Furthermore, Silent Yachts has already shared design plans for a SILENT-80 and SILENT-100 Explorer vessel.

More electrified boats are sure to make their maiden voyage soon. In the meantime, check out this launch video detailing the style and luxury of the SILENT-60:

Electrek’s take

The more I see electric propulsion on larger and larger boats, the more excited I get. While this is still such a niche segment in not just maritime transportation, but electrified mobility overall, it really excites me personally.

Many of you (hopefully) saw my previous article where I got to captain a solar-powered yacht called the Ramblin’ Rose, thanks to Sunwater Marine . That experience helped me learn and experience a lot of similar technology that Silent Yachts has implemented on an even larger and more powerful scale with its catamarans.

While it’s safe to say that my current income level might get me on board a SILENT-60 solar yacht as a mere stowaway, those who can afford their own are going to be blessed with luxury and performance with zero emissions. The quicker we stop burning diesel in our Earth’s waters (and anywhere else while we’re at it), the better.

A top speed 20 knots is nearly 23 mph, not bad for two electric motors getting all their energy from the sun. Obviously, that speed is not sustainable for the batteries, but being able to get 100 NMs from the sun each day truly means you can take this yacht out for weeks at a time if you want. Not to mention the unique wing kite that actually pulls the 60-foot yacht, unlike a sailboat that is pushed by the wind. No range anxiety here.

I’d love to get below deck on one of the Silent Yachts and explore the inner workings… while getting a tan in the Mediterranean, perhaps? A kid could dream, right? For now, I’ll simply have to report electric boat news from my squeaky chair, pretending the cars whizzing by outside are calm ocean waves lapping against the yacht’s hull. Is it too early for a mojito?

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Scooter Doll is a writer, designer and tech enthusiast born in Chicago and based on the West Coast. When he’s not offering the latest tech how tos or insights, he’s probably watching Chicago sports. Please send any tips or suggestions, or dog photos to him at [email protected]

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What’s In A Rig? – Wingsail

By: Pat Reynolds Sailboat Rigs , Sailboats

What’s in a Rig Series # 8 – The Wingsail

Although wingsails or rigid wings have risen to the limelight in the contemporary sailing world with the America’s Cup now employing the technology across the board, they are in no way a brand new concept. A sail, after all, in its purest form is essentially a wing. So, through the decades, many designers, looking for optimum performance, have of course instituted rigid wings (just like that of an airplane). A notable example would be the so called Little America’s Cup, a long-standing catamaran contest based around the pursuit of pure speed.

The efficiency of a hard wing has never been in question. They sail upwind higher and reach faster. Their purity of engineering allows for maximum proficiency. When compared to a solid wing, a soft sail is full of hard to manage variables. The shape, components and accompanying systems are no match for a wingsail. In many ways, a conventional sailboat rig is fighting against itself to do what it’s meant to do. Shrouds and stays are battling to keep everything in place while a sailor adjusts control lines incessantly. It’s not perfect. However, the relative practicality is another issue. A very large unbending non-folding solid structure has its obvious drawbacks. How do you stow this thing when you’re done sailing and how do you reef it if the breeze starts blowing and, for the traditionalists, where’s the romance in a big airplane wing sticking up from the front of the boat?

Before we address those questions, let’s look at how this rig works. Using the America’s Cup boats as great examples, a wingsail itself is usually composed of two parts and the surrounding system is essentially three ingredients.

The sail has a forward and trailing element. The trailing element is like the flaps on an airplane wing and the angle between the two elements is called camber. Increasing the camber (angle) produces power. If the power becomes too much, which it often does, another control system comes into play that deals with “twist”. Twist allows the ability to depower the boat by twisting the wing so wind can spill off.

After camber and twist, the third major aspect of control on these quite simple wing setups is the mainsheet. Like a normal mainsheet, it lets the sail out, but unlike a soft sail, a rigid wing doesn’t power up downwind, which is why soft genoas are often part of the sailplan.

So, without argument wingsails are more efficient engines, but, as we stated, are not nearly as practical as soft sails. Are you sensing the idea of a hybrid coming around the bend? Yes, in fact, world renown cruising boat manufacturer Beneteau has been developing just such an innovation. They have a soft wingsail prototype installed on a production boat that blends the two concepts. It’s made of cloth so it can be broken down like a traditional scale but is, in every other way, a wingsail. It’s an unstayed mast with an airplane style wing that they say behaves very much like its rigid cousin.

So, lets revisit the particular questions we asked earlier and make sure we answered them. How is the wingsail reefed? By adjusting the aforementioned twist control, a wingsai is depowered, thereby reefed. How can this big wing thing be stowed? Well, with this hybrid idea, it’s lazy jacks and sail covers – we know how that works.

The last question is more difficult to answer…where’s the romance? The feeling, sounds and shape that soft sails embody date so far back into our collective history, it’s a bit heartbreaking to think they could possibly be replaced. There’s a certain humanity…a beauty and art involved in harnessing these inherent imperfections. We share this struggle and achievement with those who sailed before us. We have continually developed materials, hardware and better systems to get an edge, and are always happy when we succeed, but a radical refit, should it happen on a grand scale, is sort of jarring and sad.

Alas, this is the quandary of technology and advancement. Change bringth and taketh away. But don’t worry too much about it – in this modern day it seems 18-year old yellow, fading Dacron sails hung about on aging wires are still representing strong!

What's in a Rig Series:

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No fossil fuels: First solar electric catamaran with wing sail goes into production

• March 25, 2022
• No comments
• 2 minute read
• Joshua S. Hill

Maltese electric boat manufacturer Zen Yachts has announced the first order for its Zen 50, the world’s first production catamaran yacht equipped with both extensive solar panels and a wingsail.

Zen (short for Zero Emission Nautic) Yachts announced this week that it has sold its first Zen 50 which will immediately enter production and which is the first production yacht to be equipped with a Wingsail.

The OceanWings 32 wingsail was provided by French company Aryo, a spin-off of the yacht design and naval architecture bureau VLPL, which inked a contract with Zen Yachts earlier this month to supply the 32-square-metres wingsail to Zen Yachts.

The OceanWings 32 is an offspring of the Oracle wingsail which was used to defeat the conventionally rigged Alinghi in the 2010 America’s Cup in Valencia.

But the Zen 50 is more than its tall wingsail, boasting a huge solar roof with a 1:1 solar power versus displacement ratio of 16kW and 16-tonnes, making the yacht completely self-sufficient in terms of energy.

The full carbon blue water capable catamaran was designed for Zen Yachts by award-winning naval architect Julien Mélot and is intended to embody genuine zero-emissions, high comfort, and performance.

In addition to renewable power sources, the Zen 50 has also been built to ensure minimal drag, optimising the catamaran’s hydrodynamic performance through an in-depth Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis.

“I know from experience that to achieve complete energy self-sufficiency, a true solar boat needs to have a low energy consumption and a large solar roof area to harvest solar energy,” said Julien Mélot, designer of the Zen 50.

“The ZEN 50 excels in both with her gigantic solar roof and her high-performance lightweight hulls.

“The majority of solar catamarans currently on the market are equipped with a large generator, making them de facto hybrid diesel-solar-electric boats. They offer great speeds in a variety of conditions but are less eco-friendly than true zero-emission vessels.

“We wanted the Zen to be a true solar boat, that’s why the first unit in construction is not equipped with any generator and will not carry a single drop of fossil fuel onboard (indeed even the tender is electric and recharged by the mother vessel).”

With 100% of the vessel’s energy harvested onboard through either its solar or wind, the yacht boasts a number of other amenities, including the ability to be equipped with a dive compressor, e-water scooter, e-foil, electric jet boards, and an electric water maker.

The Zen 50 also comes with Starlink internet, two helm stations at the cockpit and flybridge, and features two large day beds, up to three dining areas for over 10 people, a professional galley and two wet kitchens, five heads, and up to four double-ensuite cabins.

Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.

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