The America's Cup wants to leave a legacy in Barcelona. The nautical competition must have an impact beyond the competing teams and, for this reason, the administrations are working to broaden its reach. One example is the development of the first 100% electric Catalan recreational boat, made by the Empordà shipyard Zephyr Boats. It will be the first of five more to come, with the participation also of Electric Inside, Magonis Electric Boats and Marcelo Penna Yachts.
This project aims to boost the local nautical sector with the objective of "making Barcelona and Catalonia world leaders in the field of decarbonization", taking advantage of the visibility of the 37th edition of the regatta. It is an initiative promoted by the Barcelona Capital Nàutica Foundation (FBCN) with the support of its main patrons, the Government, the Generalitat and the Barcelona City Council.
"Since it was announced that the America's Cup would be held in Barcelona, the Government began to work to ensure that it would have a socioeconomic impact that goes far beyond the competition: we want it to leave a permanent mark and impact not only Barcelona but all of Catalonia," says the acting Minister of Business and Labor, Roger Torrent.
It will be done through three axes: promoting innovative projects with an industrial trajectory, generating opportunities for the country's SMEs and fueling the growth of the nautical sector and the blue economy. In this sense, it will not only be done with the construction of boats, but also with the manufacture of charging systems.
Innovation with a Catalan seal
The project to promote electric recreational boats designed and manufactured entirely in Catalonia began in 2023. First, a process of identifying innovation in the electrification of recreational boating by Catalan shipyards was carried out.
The result was the selection of the four shipyards that had to build fully electric boats. Since then, Electric Inside, Magonis Electric Boats, Marcelo Penna Yachts and Zephyr Boats have been conceptualizing, designing and building a total of six 100% self-made electric propulsion boats, taking care of the boat, batteries and technology.
In the case of the first boat presented, Zephyr Boats is a young Catalan shipyard located in Empordà that is based on the experience and creativity of Romà Pueyo, an industrial designer with more than twenty years in the design and construction sector of motorboats and sailboats. According to the CEO, Gemma Pagès, the new 100% electric Zephyr 800 ECO "is the first step in research based on the love for the sea, Mediterranean culture, and the dream of creating a vessel adapted to the new values of our society."
According to Zephyr Boats, the presented boat "is the first step in research based on the love for the sea, Mediterranean culture, and the dream of creating a vessel adapted to the new values"The ZEPHYR 800 ECO is an eight-meter-long boat with outboard electric motors, with a unique modern style design and innovative solutions that bring great improvements to the sailing experience, providing more comfort, more space, and being more sustainable. It has an overall length of almost nine meters and a beam of almost three more, with space for up to 12 passengers.
It stands out for its abundant storage space, the galley located on deck, and the customization option. In addition, it has two cabins and an integrated bathroom. This vessel has been developed from scratch to be electric, so its dimensions and space have been conceived to make the most of its technology, based on an electric propulsion system with a power of 168 Kw (230 HP) up to 225 kW (300 HP). Its optimal cruising speed is 20 knots.
The first completed vessel, powered by Zephyr Boats, was presented a few weeks ago in Palamós. The remaining five will be approved and available to the public foundation and its skippers in June, and will be used during the ten weeks of the America's Cup, an unparalleled opportunity to promote and give visibility to the project internationally. This will take advantage of the fact that the world's focus will be on Barcelona, considering that the sports competition is one of the three with the most global impact, only behind the football World Cups and the Olympic Games. All of this was discussed in the session organized by The New Barcelona Post last Wednesday at the Antigua Fàbrica Estrella Damm, with a focus on the sustainability innovations that the regatta allows.
Beyond the America's Cup
As part of the project, the FBCN has promoted the establishment of the Sectoral Table for the Decarbonization of Nautical, chaired by the Generalitat and the Barcelona City Council. In its first session, more than fifty agents from the decarbonization value chain attended, from public administrations, universities, shipyards, component manufacturers, nautical electronics, and recharging systems.
According to the promoters, the next steps of the project are the start of a reflection around Catalan recreational nautical and, based on the results, to build a strategic proposal on the business and innovation model of the sector, with an action plan and improvements in terms of its competitiveness. In the long term, it is contemplated to explore the professional maritime sector of goods and passenger transport.