HIGH SEAS

JOURNEYS

HIGH SEAS SILENT RUNNING

THE NEW SILENT 60 LUXURY CATAMARAN USES THE SUN’S RAYS TO TAKE YOU CRUISING

BY HOWARD WALKER

Along with beaches, gators, and Key lime pie, the one thing Florida has in abundance is sunshine. So, when a boatbuilder comes up with a luxury cruiser that’s 100 percent powered by the sun, it’s worth taking notice.

Austrian-owned Silent Group launched its massive solar-powered catamarans in 2016. Back in 2018, its then flagship Silent 64 grabbed headlines by becoming the first solar-powered catamaran to cross the Atlantic, from Spain to Barbados, in just 16 days.

Today, I’m in Fort Lauderdale, slathering on the SPF 50 and trying out the Silent Group’s newest power cat, the $3-million-and-up Silent 60.

Its claim to fame is its ability to use sunshine to cruise at 6 to 8 knots for up to nine hours, or roughly 100 nautical miles a day. Ease back to a sailboat-like 4 to 5 knots and you have the possibility of near perpetual motion.

However, for those who live by the mantra that life is too short to own an ugly boat, this might not be the craft for you. With its boxy superstructure, black-framed vertical glass, slabby hull sides, and Kansas-flat roof, it’s all function and not a lot of form.

But space—and plenty of it—is a huge part of the appeal here. At almost 30 feet wide, it’s half as wide as it is long. The outside entertaining areas are truly vast, whether it’s the full-width rear cockpit, the spacious flybridge, or the sunken deck on the bow. Inside, you could hold a party for 20 in the salon and it would still feel empty. Add to that the large galley and dining area, plus the choice of three or four cavernous cabins, including a master that takes up one entire hull.

Our skipper for today’s cruise along the Intracoastal is Silent’s delivery

captain, Kyle Miller. With a tap of the bow thruster control and a burst of electric power, he eases the 60 out of its side-on slip and into the open waters.

To get technical for a second, this 60 comes with Silent’s E-Power propulsion pack, with its twin 268-hp electric motors and 207-kWh lithium-ion batteries. It’s good for 7-knot cruise speeds with a claimed— though optimistic—15-knot top speed.

If you want more juice, then go for the E-Power+ package with twin 455-hp motors, 286-kWh batteries, and the promise of a brief 20-knot top speed. But remember that for anything over 5 knots you’ll need to crank up the diesel generator for one of every three hours to top off the batteries. Thankfully, like the electric motors, it is whisper quiet.

POWER FILE

PRICE: FROM $3 MILLION LENGTH: 59 FEET BEAM: 29 FEET, 6 INCHES DRAFT: 3 FEET

POWER: 2 X 268-HP ELECTRIC There is something totally soothing about gliding along with only the TOP SPEED: 15 KNOTS WHY sound of water bubbling up in the wake, feeling the sun on your face, WE LOVE IT: BECAUSE THERE’S and knowing that it’s not costing you a dime in fuel. Miller tells me that JUST NOTHING LIKE FREE one Silent 60 owner made the decision to buy after tiring of using his ELECTRICITY. 80-foot Italian motor yacht for family weekend trips from Lauderdale to the Bahamas and spending more than $12,000 on fuel. He’s not alone. Right now, more than 30 Silents are awaiting construction at the builder’s yards in Fano, Italy, and Istanbul, Turkey. In addition to the 60, there’s an 80 and even a superyacht-size 120-foot version. I’m guessing somewhere in the instruction manual for each yacht is the line: Just add sunshine. «