An American entrepreneur is doing for boats what South Africa-born Elon Musk has done for cars – and he is using South African catamarans to do it.
Marc Hawxhurst, CEO of Nova Luxe Yachts, is the new disrupter of the traditional world of combustion-engine leisure boating.
He is building a range of electric boats that have zero emissions and generate power from solar panels and the boat’s own motion.
Hawxhurst signed a partnership agreement this month with Cape Town’s Scape Yachts, which produces leisure catamarans. In terms of the deal, Scape will build the hulls and bulkheads and then ship them to the US for finishing.
Once complete, the boats will have electric engines that do not require fossil fuel.
“You can live autonomously for an unlimited amount of time – that fact should not be underestimated,” Hawxhurst told Times Select, adding that electric systems had now surpassed the diesel equivalent.
He said a landmark electric refit of a top boat brand, an Aquila 44, had provided proof of concept in a way the industry could no longer ignore.
“After bringing it to the Miami Boat Show, people started to understand why an electric yacht is actually better than a diesel, not just green,” said Hawxhurst, who has partnered with two boatbuilding yards.
SA is already renowned as a producer of electric hybrids, with most of the top yards reporting a surge of interest for this option. Local boatbuilders say customers are increasingly drawn to electric propulsion.
Hawxhurst dismissed comparisons with Tesla’s Musk as “a bit of a stretch” but acknowledged that Nova Luxe aimed to be a disrupter in the yacht market.
“I come from a computer coding/software background, as Elon did. However, what he has done is orders of magnitude more difficult than what we do,” he said.
“Elon has pushed the frontier of what is possible. Nova Luxe is explaining to customers what is already possible while at the same time organising the team and suppliers to deliver a product.”
Hawxhurst said that despite lagging behind the automotive industry in terms of electric innovation, the marine environment enjoyed various advantages, such as the ability to efficiently recharge at marinas.
“Counting marinas, boats have more places to plug in than they do to fuel up. Second, if you add a solar panel to a car roof, then great, you have enough power to charge your phone in the car. On a power catamaran, the solar array size can approach that of home installations.
“Now with each passing sunny day, you are sending excess power to your high-voltage batteries and can use that for electric sailing another day. The difference between gathering less energy than you use every day and gathering more changes what is possible.”
Scape yard manager Kevin Knight, who now joins the Nova Luxe team, said electric boats were the future. “All boats will go this way,” he said.
And thanks to Musk’s Starlink satellites, which promise worldwide high-speed internet, the boats will be easy to operate in any corner of the ocean.
Vanessa Davidson, executive head of the South African Boat Builders Export Council, said SA was at the forefront of the green revolution in the boating world.
“The move into electric propulsion is a natural progression and meets the demand for greener vessel operation, as well as an enhanced boating experience for owners who value the silence afforded by electrical propulsion,” she said.
James Turner, from Vision Yachts in Knysna, said more than half of build enquiries were for electric boats. “The long and the short is that SA is taking electric to heart – we see the value in it. It is the trend going forward.”
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