A Poll: Sale/Resale of electric powered sailboats

[hamburking]

I would LOVE to buy a boat with an electric engine.
Much better than no engine at all.

I suppose it depends on your area where you will sail...for long ocean passages maybe its no good. But here on the great lakes, where distances are small, it would be fantastic, and definitely preferred over an outboard (limited range) or atomic 4 (age).

[grjfield]

Juho...We agree.
And if fuel cell can deliver enough amps, we can get rid of the battery bank and just generate what we need when we need it! I'll be the first to convert if its viable.

[Rustic Charm]

For those who think an electric motor would be good for ocean sailing

I've just sailed 200 miles to a port, spent the night and sailed to another port over six hours, then next day sailed again to another port. Basically four days of 'motoring' to get me to my desination. During that time I managed to travel under sail for only about 16 hours.

Without an engine that's a long way and a long time to be sitting out in an ocean, in a shipping lane, in a notorious weather prone place, without an engine.

[Stumble]

For me this question is unanswerable. There is just too much data lacking.

For a daysailer, or racers I would consider electric a positive. For a cruiser a negative. Either of these would be modified up or down depending on the quality of install, range under battery power, auxiliary power production, etc.

[chris07732]

I went pretty far down the road, 3-4 yrs of planning, to go electric with my 40' motor sailor. The Perkins was out of boat, the electric motor was delivered, I was waiting on controllers. I was not willing to accept the range anxiety issue, so my plan included a diesel gen set capable of providing power to cruise indefinitely at 17kw worth of power, which was 5.5 knots. Add in dealing with waves/wind on the bow, my guess is that I'd make 3 kts. Because of the "flaky" off-shore vendor, prototype controllers being sold to me as "real " product, I backed away. Reality set in: if I'm going to have a big diesel to provide power to the electric motor, what's the point. Ultimately, range anxiety is a critical issue, over riding quietness, environmental issues, etc. I think an electric boat is a losing proposition value wise and has little to no resale value accept to a very narrow set of sailors

[grjfield]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

For those who think an electric motor would be good for ocean sailing

I've just sailed 200 miles to a port, spent the night and sailed to another port over six hours, then next day sailed again to another port. Basically four days of 'motoring' to get me to my desination. During that time I managed to travel under sail for only about 16 hours.

Without an engine that's a long way and a long time to be sitting out in an ocean, in a shipping lane, in a notorious weather prone place, without an engine.

Hey Rustic Charm!
Regards to Tazzie! A good friend of mine just returned there after 4 years in Vancouver BC. And I spent a week there back in 96. GREAT PLACE!

Sounds like you're oceans above me in sailing prowess. For 99% of my needs, my little electric works great. If I had to follow you around, I'd throw my 2-2000W inverter gens aboard in case the wind died. I can cruise at 4 knots all day with those going pumping out about 30 amps. Not fast...but it gets me out of the shipping lanes!
The beauty of electric is I only need to load the gas - gen stuff on the boat once a year or so.
On the other hand..if a diesel quits in the middle of a shipping lane, I suspect neither an onboard genie nor solar panels will get your diesel up and running.
I suppose it comes down to what side of the bread you like to spread your vegimite on!

[grjfield]

Hey Chris...Sorry it didnt work out for you. You definitely want to go with a reputable dealer and product. For the masses, would you care to share the name of the flaky vendor. It may save another sailor some grief.
My vendor was USA based..out of Minnesota...called Electric Yacht. They have been around a few years and their support was terrific. No issues during the 1st year (knock on wood)! I had also considered Oceanvolt. Good looking Product but it was premium priced. I was more worried about turnaround time getting Finnish replacement parts if needed. I understand they are represented in your neck of the woods now (Annapolis Marine)

G

[sailingfarmer]

Electric would work for an inexpensive daysailer or weekender where there is a short fetch from dock to sailing grounds and back.

[Kalinowski]

Life's too short to worry about resale.

[OS2Dude]

If it had a generator, I think I'd prefer a good, efficient electric saildrive and decent battery bank. I would be doing primarily coastal cruising with it.