Electric flying foilers

There’s a reason why The Lana, The Dorchester Collection’s recent debut in the Middle East, has elected to commission its own foiling tender. The hotel’s striking mirrored façade designed by Foster + Partners overlooks Dubai’s Business Bay area, reflecting the shimmering Dubai Canal and the desert landscape beyond. As one of the world’s foremost hotel chains renowned for giving its clients ‘unforgettable experiences’, a complementary water taxi that operates between the hotel and its private branded residences is to be expected. Yet the choice of a foiling tender taps into an emerging trend among superyacht owners that goes far beyond style.

Foils were first used in the America’s Cup in 2013 delivering unprecedented speeds. In the past decade, they’ve been applied to sailing and power boats for racing and recreational cruising, including Canova, the world’s first foil-assisted sailing superyacht built by Baltic Yachts in 2021. And let’s not forget the rise of foiling boards, which have fast become a favourite in the superyacht toy chest. In the compact form of a tender, foiling boats are efficient, elegant and solid as a rock, helping to eliminate seasickness. When electric propulsion is added to the mix, the game steps up another gear.

Silence is golden

Pairing retractable foiling technology with a fully electric drivetrain results in a virtually silent, fumeless and comfortable ride. The fuel efficiency gains are also significant, typically using 80% less energy than a non-foiling hull at a fast-cruising speed. And they provide access to cruising grounds that are closed off to diesel engines – from Norway’s fjords to Florida’s growing pool of electric-only lakes.

For superyacht owners and charter guests, electric tenders can be quickly and conveniently charged on board the mothership, ready to go at a moment’s notice. Candela’s C-8 can charge its battery from 10-80% in less than 30 minutes. With access to marine DC charging networks (dockside fast charge stations), the Polestar-powered Candela C-8 prototype set a new record last year when it covered 420 nautical miles in 24 hours. That’s the equivalent of travelling from London to Amsterdam, and back.

“It opens up entirely new ways to travel on the water given the networks of maritime DC chargers that are popping up around the world,” says Mikael Mahlberg, Head of PR & Communications at Candela. The Swedish firm burst onto the scene in 2021 with its debut Candela C-7. It swiftly followed a year later with the Candela C-8, equipped with a 69kWh battery adapted from the Polestar 2 electric car. Its latest launch, the Candela C-8 Polestar Edition manifests the two Swedish brands’ expertise in pioneering tech and minimalist Scandinavian design. A particular highlight are the Polestar gold-coloured foils, and the marine-certified textile used throughout, from the seats, cushions and sunbeds to the cabin roof panels.

A tender for arriving in style

“The design goal was to make an electric boat with long range, high speed and desirable amenities. That goal is only attainable if the boat is light and efficient, which meant our design team had to keep both hydrodynamic and air resistance to a minimum – just like in an aircraft,” says Mahlberg. “That’s why the C-8 has sleek lines with a tapered aft, carefully angled windscreen and a symmetric layout. Passengers sit in the centre of gravity on top of the Polestar battery, which makes take-off easier and gives a balanced design.”

With a range of 57 nautical miles at 22 knots, the Candela C-8 — available with a hard top, T-top or open cruiser — lends itself well to the needs of a superyacht tender, such as hopping between Capri and Positano, or anchoring the mothership in Monaco and zipping along by tender to St Tropez for the day. “The retractable hydrofoils and 8m length fits in most superyacht garages, and what better way to arrive in style?” says Mahlberg, who notes the boat is 95% cheaper to operate than diesel tenders. It uses a new, efficient 100 kW electric direct drive pod motor — the Candela C-POD — which propels the boats on computer-guided hydrofoils that lift the hull above the water at a top speed of 27 knots.

“The motors are submerged in a pod below the surface and drive the propellers directly, thereby doing away with a mechanical transmission. So, no slamming from gearboxes, no energy losses and no noise,” says Mahlberg. “There’s also no need for maintenance as there is no cooling system – the motors are passively cooled by the flow of seawater.”

A flurry of foils

The electric foiler combination is so good, a flurry of other boatbuilders have joined the mix, including French yard Iguana and the Alte Volare, a 12m hydrofoil limousine tender designed by Cockwells. The SpiritBARTech35EF leverages BAR Technologies’ America’s Cup simulation and design expertise, while Vessev’s VS-9 has trick foils that change shape to optimise their angle of sailing and ensure guest comfort in 1m swell.

What the Tyde by BMW and ICON perhaps lacks in exterior appeal, it makes up for in interior style, with a large platform, a modern BMW helm station, and lights and temperature managed by voice control. Likewise, the Navier 27, with its intelligent software navigation system, hit the sweet spot with millennials when it launched in 2021. Conceived by a pair of MIT alumni aerospace engineers, the first 15 hulls sold out in six weeks. 

While The Lana’s foiler remains shrouded in secrecy until its big reveal later this year, a private event in March showcasing the Foiler Flying Yacht suggests that UAE-based Enata and its Swiss engineering expertise could be the brand of choice to bring hydro-foiling capabilities to The Dorchester’s world of hospitality. Watch this space.