This week, the world’s largest boating and marine B-to-B trade show, called METS, is taking place in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. One of the highlights of the show is the Dame Awards that honor the best new products introduced to the market at the show. Judged by a highly respected panel of experts, the awards are considered some of the most prestigious in the boating world. This year’s overall winner is a new electric sail-drive, the HighPower ServeProp 25, and power system introduced by the Finnish firm Oceanvolt. While electric power has been available for sailboats for a while, the new HighPower offers builders of production boats a turn-key electric power system that can be adapted to a wide range of designs in the 40 to 70 foot range. The system uses a controllable pitch propeller for maximum efficiency under power. Plus, the sail drive can “hydro-generate” or repower the battery bank at up to 5kW while under sail. Certainly, the judges determined that Oceanvolt had created an electric sail-drive and power system destined to be a leader in the market in years ahead. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the HighPower ServProp offered as a standard “option” on many new cruising boats as the demand for sustainable propulsion grows by the year. Check out Oceanvolt’s website here.
