Their research into solar yacht technologies began in 2004, kicking off five years of gathering sailing data before constructing the company’s first fully self-sufficient solar-powered catamaran, the Solarwave 46.
After a five-year trial at sea that began in 2010, Silent Yachts had a proven solar yacht concept, and began serial production of luxury sustainable vessels in 2016 with the SILENT 64. By 2018, The SILENT 64 had become the first serial-production solar-powered bluewater catamaran to cross the Atlantic, from Cartagena, Spain, to Barbados in 16 days.
In 2021, Silent Yachts launched the SILENT 60 yacht as a more powerful, revamped generation of its 64-foot predecessor. After accepting and invite from Silent Yachts to climb aboard the SILENT 60, I learned much more about the solar electric catamaran firsthand, in addition to what the company has in store next.