Autonomous superyacht from Southern Wind shipyard

The beginning of a new story

About a year ago we talked about an interesting concept from the Southern Wind shipyard, namely Southern Wind 108. And just last week, this yacht left the shipyard in South Africa and set off on its first full voyage.

This SW108 hull is named Gelliceaux and is the first cruiser in a new series of yachts from Southern Wind. The shipyard describes the new superyacht as a “smart investment” that strikes the perfect balance “between sustainability, performance and luxury.” 

As with the company's previous yachts, Nauta Design and Farr Yacht Design were responsible for the design and naval architecture. The main feature of the latest yachts from these companies is the so-called. “unified platform”. This is a distinctive approach to yacht design in which designers and architects create a “basic” version of the yacht, which is then adapted step by step to the requirements and desires of the owner. For example, the owners of Gelliceaux decided that they wanted a longer keel and more sail area than the yacht's original layout could offer.

Technical features of Southern Wind 108

Let's start with the dimensions. It is not without reason that the yacht bears the prefix “super” - it is an impressive 32 meters in length. On board the new product is installed a powerful diesel-electric propulsion system, which was developed jointly with the technology company BAE Systems.

The entire propulsion system consists of two powerful generators, a lithium battery pack and electric motors. Thanks to this system, it was possible to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to almost zero. In addition, Gelliceaux has hydro-generating devices on board to further recharge the batteries. Thanks to the same hydroelectric generators, Southern Wind 108 is capable of autonomously sailing for quite a long time.

According to the shipyard's tests, the new product is capable of generating about 35 kW of energy when moving at a speed of 16 knots. However, company representatives claim that to achieve “almost complete autonomy” it will be enough to travel at a speed of only 10 knots, subject to active hydrogeneration.

As you already understand, Gelliceaux is a hybrid yacht. The shipyard itself classified the SW 108 as part of the Smart Custom series, quite transparently hinting that yachts in this series will be produced in limited editions. Other yachts in the series also include the SW 96 and SW 120.

Gelliceaux is currently sailing off the coast of Namibia. It is undergoing the final stage of testing and fine-tuning. At the helm of the yacht is skipper Mariano Sotelo and a team of experienced sailors.

Specifications

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17.11.2023