THE BIG IDEA SAILING TOWAED SUSTAINABILITY
FOR A GROWING number of younger sailors, sustainability isn't just a buzzword but the chief driver behind their new builds. Designers and shipyards understand that their vessels must now be the bleeding edge of green technology.
“The wonderful thing about sailing is that you can move a 50-ton vessel in style across the Atlantic without using fossil fuel,” says Anders Berg of Dixon Yacht Design, highlighting sailing's wind-harnessing advantage over powerboats. A younger, more tech-savvy clientele has emerged, with “different expectations that are catalyzing new technologies.”
“Our demographics changed tremendously after we started building hybrid boats,” notes Seth Hynes, president of HH Catamarans, a producer of luxury sailing cats from 44 to 88 feet. “We're now looking at mostly younger buyers—families taking sabbaticals or first-time owners living off the grid.”
Hybrid propulsion has significantly lowered emissions compared to conventional diesel power, while solar panels designed into the exterior and lithium-ion batteries recharged by the spinning of the props are becoming integral to the latest generation of bespoke sailing yachts. Green technology is also trickling, albeit more slowly, into production sailboats.
In a reverse trend, designer Bill Tripp has seen motoryacht owners gravitate toward sailing vessels. “About a third of new clients at Y Yachts owned powerboats,” he explains, adding that the tech transfer represents a “seismic shift” during his 47 years as a naval architect: “There are great opportunities now for owners who approach this reflectively.”
One of Tripp's clients is building a 70-foot “pure-electric” world-cruising sailboat with zero fossil-fuel
