Ft. Myers Beach, FL. The 60' hybrid catamaran Tang concluded its nearly 8,000 mile maiden voyage from South Africa to Florida June 27, docking at the historic Merrill-Stevens boatyard on the Miami River.
The boat is now undergoing several modifications in preparation for service as an E Motion system demonstrator in the Fall. |
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| Tang during stopover in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands |
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Included in the modifications is a new Hammond Air Conditioning system custom-designed to run on E Motion's 144 vdc power supply.
Home port in Miami
When Tang goes back into operation, Miami will remain her home port. Her first boat show will be Ft. Lauderdale in October followed by an appearance in February at Miami Strictly Sail.
Between shows, builders and potential private purchasers will be able to take the sleek, carbon-fiber speedster on demo sails to experience first-hand the advantages of E Motion hybrid drive.
Regeneration advantage
On the trip from South Africa, the most obvious E Motion advantage was regeneration under sail. Although Tang carries just about every electrical appliance imaginable, including a café-size espresso machine, all devices could be operated at any time - or all at once - with little use of the generator and no fear of running out of fuel. Most of the energy for battery recharging came from the wind, an endlessly renewable resource.
"There is something special about this feeling of sustainability, like going down a long, long ski slope that never ends," Tang's owner wrote in a satellite email en route.
"We have not been watching our [fuel] consumption aboard, as it is just taken for granted we can do everything we want to do ... when we want to do it," he said. "This is a different kind of sailing." |
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Crew took advantage of light
winds to do some serious fishing. |
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| Delivery Captain Aron Stano at the nav station |
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Tang ghosts in monochrome toward Miami.
Light winds plagued the voyage much of the way.
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St. Francis Bay launch
Tang's journey began with a launch last October at Tag Yachts in St. Francis Bay on South Africa's East Cape, followed by a short trip to Cape Town for outfitting. She then set out across the South Atlantic for Florida, with island stopovers at St. Helena, Fernando de Noronha off northeastern Brazil and St. Lucia and St. John in the Caribbean. |
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Tang's island-hopping route stretched
from South Africa to South Florida |
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Winds were light for much of the open ocean stretches, ranging from five to nine knots for days at a time. During these periods, one of the two generators typically ran for an hour and a half every 18-24 hours to recharge the batteries. In heavier winds, the generators weren't needed.
"It is truly amazing how much energy we go through on this boat," said delivery Captain Aron Stano in an email. "When you consider all the electronics, all the refrigeration, everyone's computers, fans, radar, chart plotter, running the water maker, etc., only using the generator that long in a 24-hour period is unheard of on a sailboat!" |
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A de-riggedTang awaits upgrades inside
the massive Merrill-Stevens boathouse. |
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Hammond's 144 v Arctic Wave AC
Tang's new air conditioning system was planned before the voyage began. Engineers from Hammond Air Conditioning worked with Tether on EMP's Lagoon 47 test bed to convert a 12 v Arctic Wave to the E Motion 144 v system. The result is a more efficient unit that can run for hours off the batteries without starting up the generator. The Arctic Wave has a separate evaporator, fan, refrigerant line and individual control in each of the boat's living spaces.
The greater efficiency comes from two sources: The unit pumps small amounts of refrigerant through the boat instead of blowing massive amounts of air. And because it runs on 144 volts instead of 12, it pushes far less amperage through the wires.
Besides Tang and the Lagoon 47, the Arctic Wave system has been installed on an older Kennex 38' catamaran retrofitted with E Motion hybrid drive. |
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Lessons learned
The long journey gave ample time to study the boat's complex systems in operation, revealing several areas where upgrades would greatly improve performance, according to Dave Tether, CEO of Electric Marine Propulsion (EMP), dba E Motion Hybrids.
"We're using the 'lessons learned' from the trip to create the ultimate demo vehicle," he says.
Tether and his equipment vendors have been reviewing data compiled by the energy management module (EMM) from multiple logging points around the boat.
International Battery, manufacturer of the boat's massive lithium ion battery pack, has already used EMM data to develop an updated motherboard for the battery management system.
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Hydraulic boom furling and mast
rotation systems are being modified. |
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Other improvements
Other improvements include upgrading the wiring to EMP and US standards, adding ventilation in the stern compartments to increase circulation to the air-cooled motors, altering mast rake to improve the self-furling ability of the hydraulically powered boom and synchronizing the twin controllable-pitch props to equalize thrust throughout their adjustment range.
Builder Tag Yachts has developed a modification for the hydraulic mast rotation system, and that is being installed in Florida as well.
Although Tang will serve as the main E Motion demo boat, EMP's Lagoon 47 test bed will also be available for system tryouts on Florida's Gulf Coast at company headquarters in Ft. Myers Beach. |
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| Initial sea trials took place in St. Francis Bay. |
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| (Looking aft) Luxurious salon features abundant electrical appliances and plenty of open space. |
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