We discovered the Torqeedo engine whilst searching for an efficient engine for our solar boat in development. The problem with solar boating is that you need to develop good speed without using much power. That is why we use the Torqeedo engines on our boats. Here we'd like to introduce you to one that we have almost finished building and another at the early development stage.

This boat is built as a family camping boat. The sort of boat for a bit of fun on the river teasing the fuel guzzlers! But there is also another purpose: to be able to do a long passage non-stop, like the Brisbane-to-Sydney run. By doing so maybe we can convert a few people to clean motoring…

The Velocity 7 is a 7m sailing catamaran design by Tony Grainger. The concept here is to use the hull from the sailing cat and to produce a power catamaran able to take up to 6 people for a picnic cruise or to accommodate a small family for a camping cruise. The goal is to have a boat able to move at 4-5 knots using only the energy provided by its solar panel. The initial testing done on a sailing version is very encouraging. Of course the final design could be very different from these initial renderings.