![]() “When we started this project, our test boat actually used a totally different battery, similar in weight to the existing i3 batteries that we have in there now. High-speed electric boats tend toward the experimental and promotional: The Swedish Candela Speedboat concept features hydrofoils to reduce drag and, thus, energy consumption, while the one-off 38-foot Cigarette AMG Electric Drive was powered by a dozen Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive motors.īy then, Bryant expects the Dasher to exceed its current range. Today, the electric boats you’re most likely to see are designed for casual, calm-water cruising, such as the Duffy 18 Snug Harbor, which has a top speed of 6 miles per hour. ![]() Before the 1930s you were more likely to see an electric-powered boat than one driven by an internal combustion motor. While much about the Dasher is new, electric boats have been around for quite a while. It was among the first commercial boat builders to integrate fiberglass in its production in the 1950s. Varnished teak, a dense hardwood that’s integral to Hinckley’s luxury aesthetic, has been replaced with Artisanal Teak, the company’s trademarked name for a molded composite structure hand-painted with wood grain to look “literally indistinguishable from real teak,” Bryant says. Pioneering use of lightweight materials is actually baked deep into the Hinckley heritage. Photographer: Christopher Churchill/Supervision This weight savings was achieved through liberal use of carbon fiber, both in the carbon-epoxy hull, conceived by noted boat designer Michael Peters, and in the carbon-fiber stringers, which lend it structure and rigidity. “The boat has been designed, ground up, for electric propulsion.”Īt 6,500 pounds, the Dasher is the lightest boat Hinckley has ever built the similarly dimensioned Center Console 29 runabout tips the scales at roughly 8,000 lbs. “This isn’t just an existing design, where we dropped a couple of electric motors in,” says Scott Bryant, Hinckley’s director of new product development. ![]() On Thursday at the 47th Newport International Boat Show, Hinckley Co., the almost 90-year-old yacht builder, based in Portsmouth, R.I., introduced the Dasher, a 28.5-foot fully electric vessel, taking its moniker from the company’s first “picnic-style” boat. Now Newport is the scene of another electrification, one that may have a similarly seismic effect. When Bob Dylan went electric, jamming Maggie’s Farm on his sunburst Fender Stratocaster at Rhode Island’s 1965 Newport Folk Festival, he changed the world and gave a jolt to a field (and a town) known mostly for being staid and traditional.
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