Well, we’ve signed the contract and paid the deposit, but there’s still one condition that we have to satisfy before we are 100% committed, and that’s a test sail. Because the performance and sailing abilities of our boat are so important to me, I need to sail a 5X before we give the final go ahead to start construction.
I’ve been in Stockhom, Sweden for the past week for work, but on Tuesday I’m headed to Marseille for a few days to visit the Outremer factory and sail a 5X. I’ll be taking plenty of video and photos to share when I’m done.
The Outremer guys have arranged for me to sail Addiction which is the closest configuration they have built to what Wildling will be, in that Addiction is equipped with many of the performance and weight saving options that I am choosing for Wildling. I’m really looking forward to it!
Here’s a video of Addiction sailing at 18 to 20 knots of speed so you can get an idea of what’s in store! In fact, this is the video that convinced me I had to own a 5X. I still get goosebumps every time I watch it. Going 20 knots in a cruising sailboat!?! OMG, I have to have one!!! (yes, I realize I have a problem).
Wow – that is amazing. Can’t wait to see the photos/videos you take. Is it solar powered?
Hi Jackie, yes it is solar powered. There is a 24V, lithium-ion battery bank that is used to run all the systems on the boat, so we need to have a way to recharge the batteries. The solar panels is one method, they can put out about 750 watts. There is also a hydro generator. Because the boat is so fast, we can lower a small water driven turbine off the back to generate about 600 watts of hydo-electricity as we are sailing. Then there are the two 55HP engines, one in each hull that can charge the batteries via their alternators. Because of the fast charging capabilities of the lithium batteries, we can design the boat to not need a generator, which saves about 450kg of weight. I’ll describe how all that works in a blog post.
This is really fascinating to me – just keep sending the info, I love it.