HIGH FLYER
We’re the first magazine in the world to drive Candela’s much-hyped C-8 foiling electric weekender.
Is this the tipping point for all-electric boats?
Once in a while we are lucky enough to helm a boat that completely redefines what is possible. In my 17 years as editor that has only happened to me twice. The first was in 2015 when Safehaven Marine took me through the tail end of a hurricane in its seemingly indestructible Barracuda SV11, the second was last September when I got the chance to drive the world’s first foiling electric boat, the Candela C-7. I could not get over how quiet, comfortable and exhilarating it was to ‘fly’ above the waves in this astonishingly efficient all-electric sportsboat.
Despite the C-7’s transformational driving experience, I couldn’t help feeling it was the precursor to the main event – a brilliantly clever proof of concept rather than the fully finished article. Its diminutive proportions, low freeboard, open bow, hand built construction and high price automatically relegated it to the realms of a cool but pricey toy for superyacht owners rather than a mainstream alternative to a petrol boat.
CRUNCH TIME
It didn’t take long for that to be confirmed. Within weeks Candela announced it was working on a larger, more seaworthy, closed-bow 28ft weekender that could be mass produced in a factory and sold at a competitive price to premium petrol craft from the likes
