Mission

We are on the cusp of one of the most transformative advances in leisure boat technology since steam replaced sail.

For more than a century, leisurely life on the water presumed boats would be built around internal combustion engines and piloted by a person at the helm competent in a variety of skills not the least of which was engine maintenance and repair.

At present in Miami a leisure craft is taking shape under the direction of a team led by mechanical engineer Cyril Silberman that up ends the traditional models.

The vessel team is creating an electric boat that embodies a hybrid-electric propulsion system composed of highly efficient diesel engines, lithium-ion batteries that are chargeable by the diesels, solar cells, dockside power and even tidal currents…

And this is only one way the prototype vessel, Sobe Sunset, is a huge leap forward. The HVAC system (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) is solar-powered variable-speed; the helm is a sidestick; differential thrusters replace a conventional rudder system; performance data is continuously sent ashore by satellite; and operational commands can be sent back from an onshore operations center via satellite as well. The result is life on the water that is simpler, safer, less worrisome, less expensive, and less dependent on an onboard mechanically skilled crew.

Ever since leisure craft have had motors, owners have grumbled that the most annoying aspect of watercraft ownership is maintenance and repair; it is both too expensive and too time-consuming. Another annoyance: needing a trained mechanic as crew on long voyages.

Now much of these aggravations that went hand-in-hand with 20th-century leisure craft can be eliminated by the kind of 21st-century vessel being crafted in Miami.