At the recent Cannes Yachting Festival, MBY editor Hugo Andreae took the helm of the Candela C-7, the world’s first foiling electric boat, for the flight of a lifetime...
I’ve seen the photos, watched the videos and written several articles on the technology behind Candela’s revolutionary C-7 electric foiling boat but nothing, repeat nothing, prepared me for the moment we first ‘take off’.
At a stroke it makes every other boat feel strangely low-tech, as if Candela has finally managed to reinvent the wheel or, perhaps more aptly, discover flight.
But before we get to the meat of the story and what it feels like to fly above the waves in an all-electric boat, it’s worth taking the time to briefly recap what we’re dealing with here.
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The C-7 may look like a fairly conventional 25ft outboard-powered sportsboat but under the skin it’s about as different as a boat can be.
For starters that outboard engine isn’t a combustion engine at all but a 55kW Torqeedo electric motor linked to a surprisingly small but efficient propeller on a long, blade-like shaft that swivels to steer but can also be raised or lowered on electric rams.
Mounted just above the propeller is a small adjustable T-shaped foil that generates lift at the stern and manages the trim angle during flight.
Read Hugo’s full review of the Candela C-7 in the December issue of MBY, out November 4.
Candela C-7 specifications
LOA: 25ft 3in (7.7m)
Beam: 7ft 10in (2.4m)
Weight: 1,300kg
Motor: 55kW Torqeedo
Battery: 40kWh Lithium Ion
Top speed: 30 knots
Range: 50nm @ 22knots +8nm @ 5knots
Wave height: Up to 1.1m
Draft: 0.7m (foils lifted) 1.5m (foils down)
Foiling capacity: 800kg
Price: €265,000 (ex. VAT)
