SolidNav Explorer

[SVBajamas]

www.solidnav.com

Is anyone familiar with this particular product or the technology?
I am interested in replcing my tired A4 on my Bristol 32. I have considered a Diesel but this seems to make so much more sense to me.
I understand that this has been a bone of contention for sailors and I am not looking to start a debate but this technology seems sound for my purpose.

My sailing will tend to swing from travelling down the ICW to cross to the Bahamas, then a slow crawl from island to island where this decision would be best suited. then, of course, the return up the ICW to the Hudson River for the remaining 6 months with short sails during the summer months.

I am considering both wind and solar power as primary recharge while limiting consumption onboard (LED's, no refridge, etc...)

My ony question is if I could use a small genset to power for the long days of gaining distance on the ICW.

Any thoughts??

Bajamas

[Vasco]

How are you going to run this thing? A small genset will cost as much as a three cylinder diesel. How many batteries will this take? Their site doesn't tell you a lot. Raises more questions than answers. They say they ran a 27 foot boat for two hours on 4 AGM's but they don't say the size or what they ran those batteries down to. Going down the ICW you're going to be motoring for eight hours a day. Way cheaper to replace your A4 with a small diesel. If you only have the four batteries you'll be using power faster than you can replace it with a small genset. Might be suitable if you sit in a marina and day sail a bit but it doesn't look too encouraging if you intend to cruise. Interesting though. Wonder how many of these they sell.

[Amgine]

I agree with Vasco. I've seen better numbers on other electric drive systems, usually pancake-style motors, but without extensive planning for electrical storage and generation it's unlikely to work well. This producer isn't giving enough information on the site to do that planning.

You will likely be far ahead financially to replace with a diesel engine. There are other arguments for diesel as well, but the reality is most of us are going to be constrained first and foremost by cost so I'll just skip the other justifications.

[Mike Vogdes]

Just thought I would bring this dead horse topic back for a little more thumping.
It has been a couple years now and maybe somebody will surface with some real life tales of how this system works or doesn't work.
The FAQS page on solidnav.com claims they got their real time results with an Islander 28 and Explorer 48V electric drive with a 220AH bank. My question is basically the same as the original posters, however I'm thinking maybe double the size of the bank. Also wondering if a Honda2000I genset coupled to a 40amp smart charger would work underway when the batteries get down to say 60%?
I too am contemplating a semi annual ICW cruise, in a yet to be purchased 12,000 lb sailboat in desperate need of a make over.