By Alexander Smith
BARCELONA (Reuters) – Among the armada of vessels cramming Barcelona’s port during the America’s Cup, half a dozen futuristic looking craft have been quietly zipping in and out just above the waves.
The sleek foiling machines, which were designed by the New Zealand America’s Cup team, look more like large sports cars than boats and are powered by green hydrogen, meaning their only emissions are fresh water which is released into the sea.
Unlike normal boats, when the Chase Zero boat “takes off” it rides above the waves rather than slamming into them, meaning that passengers get a far smoother ride and an elevated view.
“The computer runs the flight control system, which controls all the hydraulics. So we set a target height,” said driver Ian Darby as he steered one of the hydrogen boats out of the harbour and onto the Mediterranean Sea off Barcelona this week.
The low, medium and high modes range from 0.7 to 1.2 metres and when the boat hits 18 knots it automatically lifts off to fly at that level above the water, Darby explained, adding that the “pitch” of the boat is controlled by its long rudder.
“It’s all automated. When we’re flying, we’re really at the mercy of the computer. So if you get too much roll, it’s unsafe and it will actually set us down,” the New Zealander added.
Like many vehicles now on the road, the boats, which the event organisers and some teams use to take out guests to watch racing, are a hybrid design, with hydrogen fed into two Toyota fuel cells which produce the electricity to power its motor and batteries.
The boat is not designed to do sharp turns but passengers wear safety belts in case it does stop suddenly, with large and “multi-directional” waves proving challenging to its controls.
The design was a spin-off from the giant America’s Cup sailing boats, which now lift above the water on foils. Because they produce little or no wake, the foiling chase boats do not create waves which can disrupt races.
“They basically produce no emissions at all and what’s dumped in the water is fresh water that’s run through the system. They foil at 30-35 knots cruise and they carry seven guests,” Phil Salthouse, the on water director for the 37th America’s Cup, told Reuters this week.
So far, the Chase Zeros have been manufactured in China by Australian boat builder McConaghy. Salthouse said they could well have wider commercial uses in the future.
“Diesel and petrol are not going to be the way going forward … these are prototypes, but ultimately hydrogen will be a means of running these sort of boats and bigger commercial boats as well,” Salthouse added.
“On a good day, it’s incredible, you’re gliding over the water, you’re doing over 30 knots. It’s super simple,” he said of the boats, which can cover 160 nautical miles at 28 knots.
(Reporting by Alexander Smith; Editing by Toby Davis)
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