Nautique all-electric ski boat a game changer - Plugboats

Bob J.

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Apr 14, 2009
773
Sabre 28 NH
I know this is a sailing site but thought in light of the recent discussions about electric boats thought some may be interested. The battery & charging technology being incorporated into go fast watercraft really could change the face of auxiliary engines in sailboats.

 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
I know this is a sailing site but thought in light of the recent discussions about electric boats thought some may be interested. The battery & charging technology being incorporated into go fast watercraft really could change the face of auxiliary engines in sailboats.

That's impressive. A new 22' ski and wake boat IS the boating industry. Sailboats don't even register on the boating industry sales meter in comparison.

They've invested a lot into that e design and tooling.

Asleep at anchor in your berth, you won't even hear that coming,... as it rams you,...
 
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Maybe then boaters won't feel the need to crank up their mega sound systems .. ..nah
 
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Likes: TomY
Sep 22, 2018
1,869
Hunter 216 Kingston
spent a lot of time in and behind Nautiques. Without that engine rumbling it'd seem pretty odd
Well some people feel that electric is too silent ;)
 
Feb 21, 2013
4,638
Hunter 46 Point Richmond, CA
The Nautique electric ski boat looks like it puts up a large wake...probaby good for wake boarding....not so good for slalom water skiing and it is limited to about 1.5 hours of ski time. I liked skiing behind my sport nautique up until a few years ago when sailing took over.
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
The Nautique electric ski boat looks like it puts up a large wake...probaby good for wake boarding....not so good for slalom water skiing and it is limited to about 1.5 hours of ski time. I liked skiing behind my sport nautique up until a few years ago when sailing took over.
Agreed. Ski boats are no longer really ski boats, as it seems wakeboarding boats are the trend. Wakeboarding boats typically have large water bladders in the stern to sink them down and provide large wakes to surf, certainly not a design brief for slalom skiing. This makes heavy batteries a good thing for wakeboard boats.

Looking at the video and hearing the system should provide 2-3 hours of operating time, well, that ain't gonna get it done for a lot of families who like to take their boat out, ride to the skiing area from the launch area, and then spend the day on the boat, pulling kids and friends around. This electric drive train surely wouldn't have worked for my friends and I back in our 20s, where we'd typically have at least a 20 minute run from launch ramp to the back creek for smoothest skiing, and then a whole day's worth of runs between 3 or 4 different skiers/wakeboarders.

I could certainly see a fleet of these on the professional circuit, or for those people who live on man-made ski lake communities (I saw ads for those kinds of places in Arizona back in the day) but just not seeing the utility for a typical family yet.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
With the torque available with electric motors I wonder how it would be to get a skier up. If it accelerates like a Tesla it will rip the skiers arms off. Well not really but it would be different. Maybe managed with propeller design?
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,043
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
With the torque available with electric motors I wonder how it would be to get a skier up. If it accelerates like a Tesla it will rip the skiers arms off. Well not really but it would be different. Maybe managed with propeller design?
I suppose the propeller could be different, but I think it would simply be managed by the throttle, same as usual. I imagine it would be pretty smooth, actually.