Initiating its research into solar-powered maritime technology all the way back in 2004, Silent Yachts certainly knows a thing or two about electric and hybrid yachting. The yachting firm set out to deliver a variety of boats that utilize the sun as its primary energy source, aiming for a future zero-emissions maritime industry through the development of powerful concepts with sustainability as the main theme.
The firm's 2021 debuted SILENT 60 yacht is proof enough of the company's long history and prowess in its maritime endeavors. Taking after its 64-foot predecessor, the SILENT 60 is a solar electric catamaran that is largely considered a stepping stone in both tech and marketing ingenuity for what the firm has in store for the future.
The Silent Yacht 60 price sits at a $2.75 million premium, highlighting the broad strokes of ingenuity behind it in addition to the technological innovation that underpins its outer beauty. Steeped in solar panels, which cover almost the entirety of the boat's upper top portion, the SILENT 60 features two 250 kW electric motors, a 225 kWh battery bank with lithium-ion NMC cells, and a backup 150 kW Hyundai generator. It also has a state-of-the-art 17 kWp solar array and a rear deck that can be raised or lowered for swimming or dinghy docking.
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The interior cabins, shown in full via Electrek, showcase lavish woodwork, open-air environments, and a multitude of seating arrangements that ensure long trips at sea with a packed catamaran won't feel cramped. It has five beds across four cabins, all of which are as luxurious as the rest. The SILENT 60 is alone proof of the commitment that underpins Silent Yachts as a leading brand in sustainable maritime concepts.
Headed by brothers Michael and Heike Köhle, Silent Yachts first put to sea a concept boat designed to be fully self-sufficient via solar power in 2010. The company measured this potential over the course of five years, after which it began to deliver mass production yachts such as the 2016-launched SILENT 64, which the SILENT 60 takes after. In 2018, the SILENT 64 was awarded as the first-ever serial-production solar-powered catamaran to cross the Atlantic, a 16-day-long trip that sawn the yacht traverse from Spain's Cartagena to Barbados.
Though certainly a testament to Silent Yachts' craft and ingenuity, the SILENT 60 is all but a mere stepping stone for the maritime brand in its future plans of building more stable, self-sufficient fleets of yachts across a wide variety of performance metrics. For starters, the company is setting sail on a potential all-electric dinghy, of which little information currently exists on potential specs and pricing. The Silent Yachts dinghy is intended to go in tandem with the firm's two larger catamarans, the SILENT 62 and SILENT 80.
Beyond the electric dinghy, Silent Yachts is likewise delivering a state-of-the-art hybrid offering in the form of its massive SILENT VisionF 82, built primarily for bridging both solar powers with battery banks for a new form of maritime boating experience. Coupled with its hybrid offering, the maritime firm is also doing some hush-hush internal R&D on bi-directional charging capabilities and even liquid-cooled batteries for newfound performance parameters on the open sea.
If that wasn't enough, Silent Yachts announced back in Sept. of last year the debut of Silent Resorts, a thrill seeker's lifelong adventure in the form of luxury solar-powered residences built for boating and fun. In June, the company set sights on the Bahamas as its first so-called "yacht-and-villa retreat" destination in the Silent Resorts catalog, allotting a total of 16 solar-powered bedrooms to guests alongside eight Silent Yachts, specifically both the 60 and 80 series of boats. According to the firm's Sept.-uploaded PDF, Asia is its next potential destination following the Caribbean.
