The future is here: Spirit 111(feet), the most sustainable Super Yacht to date has launched.

[TomY]

“Using electric propulsion to regenerate the batteries whilst sailing, the yacht will be able to operate for up to four days at anchor without having to plug into shore power or start the two onboard generators. When the yacht crosses the Atlantic, as long as there is adequate wind, she will not need to consume any fossil fuels.”

34m flagship sailing yacht Spirit 111 launched

The 34-metre all-wood sailing yacht Spirit 111 launched in Ipswich, England today where the yard celebrated the birth of its flagship project.

www.superyachttimes.com

 

[Brian D]

Sounds great on paper and in forums. The proof is in the pudding.

"If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"

 

[Scott T-Bird]

So sleek! I'd love to see the rig.

 

[TomY]

Sounds great on paper and in forums. The proof is in the pudding.

"If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"

I sure don't see this super yacht not firing up it's generators. But the tech is evolving to enable the possibility, if you combine that tech with conservation.

These 'green' boats so far have been total flops. I remember Stanley Paris who intended to sail around the world on no fossil fuel. No big deal - that, it used to happen all the time. Paris's boat was so tech heavy that solar and prop regeneration and power storage, couldn't keep up.

A decade or so ago I was in the same anchorage as the Dashews (ex global sailors) with one of their new cruising motorboats. They were touted to go days at anchor without running the generator. But for the time I was there, the generator never stopped running.

Today the same sustainable tech has evolved considerably. It's fun to watch but breaking from dependence on fossil still has to be combined with conservation today.

 

[capta]

From the few pics, it seems this yacht will need air conditioning 24/7. She also probably has a walk in freezer, huge entertainment center and lots of other non-green equipment aboard, so I'm guessing she hardly what one could call truly "green".
Most cruisers I know can go quite a bit longer than 4 days w/o a genset or shore power, so I think this is just hype, though probably a lovely boat.

 

[Hunter216]

Using electric propulsion to regenerate the batteries

That is a nice boat!

This part of the press release gave me pause. If you are “propelling” your boat with electricity wouldn’t it be hard to “regenerate” at the same time??

A lot of new gear gets “traction” in the market when it’s funded by people who can afford to be early adopters.
As an example large format high res TV’s not very many years ago cost a lot of $$$, now not so much.
I don’t think electric is going to just replace fossil but I do think it has enough of a foothold to form an alternative to those who want it.

 

[Brian D]

This part of the press release gave me pause. If you are “propelling” your boat with electricity wouldn’t it be hard to “regenerate” at the same time??

Some still think that one can generate more energy than being consumed by the source generation. I think that is called perpetual energy. Don't think we are there yet. Doubt we will ever be there. That is like building the MC Escher.

 

[Will Gilmore]

This part of the press release gave me pause. If you are “propelling” your boat with electricity wouldn’t it be hard to “regenerate” at the same time??

I read that to mean that their electric propulsion system could double as a generator while under sail. Similar to reclamation breaking.

What I find interesting about that idea is most sailors I know are horrified by the idea that one would want to reduce sail efficiency by dragging a generating propeller under their boat. They are not, however, horrified by the idea of dragging a non-generating propeller under their boat that doesn't sail faster than 10-14 knots to begin with.

What's the big deal? A couple of knots of speed with far more range.

I don't know, of course, about this boat, but I have very high hopes for the future of electric propulsion.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[bawlmer]

Green on not. That's an awful lot of teak to have to take care of.

 

[Hunter216]

I read that to mean that their electric propulsion system could double as a generator while under sail. Similar to reclamation breaking.

What I find interesting about that idea is most sailors I know are horrified by the idea that one would want to reduce sail efficiency by dragging a generating propeller under their boat. They are not, however, horrified by the idea of dragging a non-generating propeller under their boat that doesn't sail faster than 10-14 knots to begin with.

What's the big deal? A couple of knots of speed with far more range.

I don't know, of course, about this boat, but I have very high hopes for the future of electric propulsion.

-Will (Dragonfly)

That’s my understanding of how the Torqeedo / BMW battery system works. The wording in the press release is that you can do BOTH draw down and charge concurrently.

 

[capta]

That is a nice boat!

This part of the press release gave me pause. If you are “propelling” your boat with electricity wouldn’t it be hard to “regenerate” at the same time??

I took this to mean freewheeling the prop(s) while under sail to generate electricity, but I would think this a bit noisy? I had a shaft driven generator (40kw 380 volt) on one boat and it could only be used at a specific RPM, under power. When I needed to throttle down I had to shut it down first.
I'm sure there are better regulators today, but it would still take a good bit of speed to generate any worthwhile power from a prop and shaft.

 

[Hunter216]

Green on not. That's an awful lot of teak to have to take care of.

Maybe someone will hack a Roomba to do teak maintenance

 

[TomY]

Maybe someone will hack a Roomba to do teak maintenance

I think that teak deck may be Lignia, a sustainable softwood that is grown and processed in Wales.

 

[Hunter216]

Lignia

Interesting that’s it’s “manufactured” from pine. Human ingenuity and marketing hard at work! Sure looks like teak.

I still think there is a fortune to be made by modifying a Roomba, off now to my secret lab to work on it. PS don’t tell iRobot or I will get sued!

 

[Will Gilmore]

This seems like the best place for this.
My Google front page rotates through things it thinks I'd like to see. Here's one article I thought might generate a little interest.
The EmDrive Just Won't Die
"Cassenti believes it is important to explore new and challenging concepts, but given the infinite variety on offer, he prefers those with the backing of known physics. “In my opinion, it will always be better to invest engineering efforts in existing avenues that satisfy known physical principles and gradually build up science in new avenues for engineers to explore,” says Cassenti."
But apparently, everyone is studying this drive from China to the Pentagon.

Now, I'm open to believing something like this closed system EMDrive might actually work, but only because I don't believe we know everything about the forces behind the Universe. The laws of Conservation of Energy make perfect sense. However, to assume that we can account for everything that's going on, that we know a truly closed system when we see it, is very limiting.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[markwbird]

Finally! I’ve been holding off on getting my super yacht for a more sustainable design.

 

[justsomeguy]

Gravity, Gizmos, and a Grand Theory of Interstellar Travel

For decades, Jim Woodward dreamed of a propellantless engine to take humans to the stars. Now he thinks he’s got it. But is it revolutionary—or illusory?

www.wired.com

 

[shemandr]

Well, you don't make new discoveries by hanging around the same old places. Color me skeptical but ....
Anyway we don't need an EMdrive cause the cold fusion is going so well.

 

[LloydB]

"Using electric propulsion to regenerate the batteries whilst sailing, the yacht will be able to operate for up to four days at anchor without having to plug into shore power or start the two onboard generators "
blue sky technology from a sales brochure why not double the batteries in make it 8 days. By the way how do you sail at anchor and generate electricity even for one day.

 

[heritage]

This is a good discussion of regen for sailboats.