Electric Propulsion for Sailing Yacht

We were contacted by the owner of an Endurance 35 who requested for his yacht to be fitted with an electric motor.

Objectives

This Endurance 35 yacht was in full refit at Ocean Coats Marine Service, where the owner decided to remove the diesel engine and replace it with an electric motor in order to improve it's performance and reduce cost & emissions. We were contacted by the client to power the motor.

Solution

We calculated that 38kw of lithium was to be fitted. These specially designed UK bult CE marked lithium propulsion packs are managed by their own BMS. The charging is managed by a full Victron system. Featuring the Victrom Lynx system, a Victron Quattro, Victron Orion, Smart Solar MPPT for the 12vdc system, all joined to a Victron Cerbo GX with a Touch 50 display. The lithium BMS directly controls the charging from the Quattro, pre-charge and weld detection contactors. This is a fail safe system going above and beyond.

The Victron Orion charges the 12vdc bank of three Rolls S12-128 AGMs. We re-wired nearly all of the circuits onboard and fitted new equipment. With the help of a Qualified Naval Architect we worked out that the vessel should have a six hour cruising range under lithium propulsion.

Benefits

Under sea trial in February 2023 the yacht was very responsive and was capable of over six knots effortlessly with its 10kw 48v Motor.

The Quattro is also an inverter which supplied the boat with 5kv 230vac on demand. A full recharge could now be achieved overnight whilst on shore power, making this setup ideal for day sailing; an hour leaving port, sailing for the day then a couple of hours (or more) getting back in before dark.