Songwriter, presenter and serial boat owner Richard Stilgoe’s latest purchase is a solar-powered motor launch that is red and black and green all over
When I was 70 I celebrated by going on a voyage with my children in my sailing boat. Now I am 80 I am going on a voyage with my grandchildren in a motor boat – asmaller voyage because the grandchildren are smaller (as am I) and a motor boat because after the last voyage my children told me I wasn’t to sail anymore because I was so bad at it!
One of the attractions of sailing is that you bend the elements to your will and use the wind to take you in directions the wind doesn’t want to go. Since this time I am not allowed to use the wind, I thought I would try and use the sun instead.
My last five boats (I know, disgraceful, but the hunt for a boat that will go round Cape Horn and still fit on a roof rack is a long one) have all been designed by Nigel Irens. What Nigel is good at, apart from once reciting Marriott Edgar’s poem ‘The Lion and Albert’ in unison with me as we rounded Land’s End at midnight, is drawing slippery boats that move through the water without fuss, so use less energy. Ellen Macarthur found this to be true, and so have I.
SLIPPERY WHEN WET
His latest creation is a 26ft (8m) motor launch built called Clara. He is building a series of these – well, Rodney, Charlie and Aelfi are building them out of computer-cut marine ply – in Totnes. They weigh less than a tonne and when powered by a modest petrol outboard can double their theoretical hull speed of 6.83 knots. Because of their uniquely efficient hull shape, they are also well suited to being driven by an electric outboard, in my case an ePropulsion Navy 6 (equivalent to 9.9hp).
An electric outboard? Hold on, you said you were using the sun. Be patient and all will become clear. My version of Clara has a canvas canopy. On this canopy are four flexible photo-voltaic panels, which use sunlight to produce a peak power output of one kW of electricity that helps charge the batteries. She is called Faraday, after the man who invented the electric motor. Also because, like the owner of an electric car, I worry about how ‘far a day’ she can go. Look at the photos and you might also notice that the two sides of Faraday are different colours. Of course they are. She’s an electric boat. She has a positive side and a negative side. Do try and keep up!
