"Sailboats are exposed to sun, wind and hydro in abundance but most boats don’t harvest any of those sources of energy. We wanted to build a boat where we have the possibility to use those energy sources as much as possible to reduce burning of fossil fuels to a minimum, but without compromising too much on the aesthetics and comfort. An electric propulsion system with a reasonable battery bank and hydrogeneration capability to recharge the batteries under sail was key to this philosophy. The Oceanvolt twin motors provide us with an efficient way to charge the batteries while sailing. In particular, having two motors gives us the flexibility, depending on wind and boat speed, to use only one motor or both for hydrogeneration. In addition we have in excess of 1.5kW of installed solar power to help us getting through the day while on anchor." – Owner of the electric Maxi Dolphin MD55 "Zurbagan"
The new Maxi Dolphin MD55 "Zurbagan" high performance cruiser, built by Maxi Dolphin in Italy, has been conceived for an expert owner, who wishes to sail with his family and friends and without the need of a full time skipper or crew. Therefore, the focus was on designing a boat to be sailed shorthanded and with sail systems that allow easy deployment of the different head sails, and to easily reef and unreef the square top mainsail.
Zurbagan has been planned to be as sustainable as possible, and the owner was deeply involved in the design of the electric propulsion system by Oceanvolt, and the coachroof custom designed solar panels by Sunbeam. The bimini and mainsail lazy bags also have solar panels fitted, to maximize green energy recovery.
Technology used in the electric Maxi Dolphin MD55 sailboat:
- Boatbuilder: Maxi Dolphin
- Designer: Botin Partners
- Length overall: 16.76 m
- Displacement: 15 000 kg
- Beam: 4.28 m
- Electric motor system: 2 x Oceanvolt ServoProp 15 electric saildrive motors
- Motor system nominal power: 2 x 15 kW
- Electric motor system voltage: 48 V
- Propulsion batteries: 31.5 kWh Lithium battery bank
- Generator: 15kW DC Generator