Interview: Stephen Weatherley from Archipelago is "pretty excited"

BOOTE EXCLUSIV: Mr Weatherley, you yourself sail actively, but you build extra-robust aluminium motor cats. How did that come about?

Stephen Weatherley: I founded my company in 2021 because I was looking for a boat for my family: a catamaran that could go out in any weather. Simple and robust, but with comfortable equipment so that we could enjoy our leisure time on board. That didn't exist back then. There were leisure catamarans on the market that were well suited for Mediterranean cruises and chartering, but in my opinion not for sailing on the high seas. There are also robust catamarans that are designed as commercial vessels and are used, for example, in the construction and supply of wind farms. But nothing that combines both.

Where were you travelling to?

For example, to Norway and the fjords. Personally, I have no desire to get on a motorboat and cross the Atlantic. To be honest, I find that pretty boring. But I would like to go on a long, safe journey at a slow speed and then, once you've arrived, have the option of travelling faster. Plus, our boats can go anywhere and fall dry, no problem. It was this flexibility of the platform that I wanted to achieve. And of course our cats all have RCD category A, so they are seaworthy.

So what did you do when you couldn't find a ship on the market?

I approached some naval architects and Chartwell Marine, a British company that specialises in the offshore wind sector. They did the designs for the Archipelago 47, which were a bit different at the time and had slightly odd proportions and details, but looked really cool. I thought: Oh, that's a great boat, there's nothing like it on the market. Maybe I could raise some money, set up a boatyard and build it myself. Even though that wasn't my original intention.

What happened next?

I put my plan into action. We presented our first boat, the 47, at the Southampton Boat Show in 2022. From then on, we gradually expanded the company and took orders from customers who wanted slightly different sizes and different features. We now have five models on offer, from 40 to 80 feet in length.

All aluminium motor cats?

Yes, they are all motorboats, they are all made of aluminium, and we try to stick very strictly to our basic principle: Keep it simple! I think boats are too complex these days. Things go wrong all the time anyway, so you need a boat that is easy to maintain. It also needs to have a reasonable range and speed. Of course, safety is also paramount. We can land our boats, bring them into very shallow harbours, because they only have a draught of 80 to 90 centimetres. So it's basically a really good, simple offshore platform. And that's exactly what we want to achieve.

Where do you build the boats?

We have our production facility on the Isle of Wight in the UK, where we can manufacture three to four boats at a time. Two are currently under construction, with more to be added in the coming months. We have our larger models built by partner shipyards around the world. The Archipelago 80our flagship, is currently being built in Vietnam and will then be brought to Thailand for outfitting. We are also in negotiations with a shipyard there because we have an order for a 73 and potentially further orders for two 52s.

How do you find your partners?

Some contacts were made through shipbuilding engineers with whom we work. They have had merchant ships built in some of these shipyards. Others we have selected ourselves and had good experiences with, so we would like to expand our co-operation further. Ultimately, we want to develop innovative projects in the UK, such as the Archipelago 40, and then find a reliable, cost-effective partner to realise them for us. This could be in Vietnam, Turkey or anywhere else in the world. The main thing is that the partner is able to produce the boats in the right quality and in the right quantities. We will never be able to do that in the UK. We don't have enough people and construction capacity here.

Who orders your catamarans: families who go on long journeys or people who simply want to own something different?

It's hard to say. When we sell designs or boats to six or seven customers, they are very different people. One is a retired American who wants to come to Europe and live on the boat. Another is a wealthy aviation enthusiast who wants to explore the world. The buyers of our A47, which is currently under construction, are a retired couple who simply want to use it in the Mediterranean. What they all have in common is that they are always experienced people. It is quite unlikely that we will be commissioned by someone who has never been on a boat before.

Do some of them also come from sailing, like you?

Yes, absolutely. We basically have two customer groups. On the one hand, there are pensioners who have come from sailing and now want to switch to a motorboat because they are looking for stability, space and easy handling. They are experienced skippers and know what challenges need to be overcome at sea. They want a boat that they know will offer them safety. And then there is the other group: customers who are younger and quite affluent. They may have sold their business and love the design or are simply enthusiastic about the brand. Our Kat in Norway has attracted a lot of interest because it simply looks cool up there.

How many projects have you completed so far?

For various reasons, there is still only the 47 on the water, including the fact that we built the 40 in France and then the shipyard went bankrupt. So we had to bring it back to finish it ourselves. We will have two more boats on the water by the end of this year. Possibly even three, depending on what happens with the 80. Next year should be a big year. We have done very well, because the market is actually relatively weak in this size. If you look at all our customers who are either already building or have signed design contracts with us, eight boats will be built in the next two years.

What comes next?

The next boat we are building is an all-electric Archipelago 40 for the Mediterranean. It's a partnership with ePropulsion, who specialise in electric propulsion. We will install a battery with a capacity of 600 kilowatt hours. It's a bit of an experiment, because I'm not necessarily convinced by the idea of an all-electric vessel as a proper offshore research boat, because you just don't have the range.

The first boat still had a classic drive, right?

Yes, that was a pure diesel boat. The two that we are currently building on the Isle of Wight are diesel-electric hybrids that can be driven silently for one to two hours and are easy to manoeuvre. The new Archipelago 40 is powered purely by electricity, without a generator and without fossil fuels. If the sun is not shining and the batteries are empty, you have to anchor somewhere or call at a harbour first.

But now you are taking the next step with methanol?

That is true. And in fact, our customer for the all-electric 40 model is very interested in working with us to develop a methanol range extender system. He is determined not to take any fossil fuels on board. Instead, he is focussing on an innovative range extender. We are even being subsidised by the British government for this. So this could be a very exciting product that contributes to decarbonisation.

Where would be a typical area of application for this?

In Norway, for example, where there is little sunshine and the battery capacity is insufficient. A range extender with perhaps 20 or 30 kilowatts on board could be used there. This would then use clean methanol to generate electricity, very quietly in the background. You won't be able to achieve sustained speeds of 25 knots or more with this. But it's also about travelling cleanly and safely and increasing your range. I'm pretty enthusiastic about it.

What exactly is new about your drive concept?

So far, we know of systems that convert methanol into hydrogen and then hydrogen into electricity. But no one has ever combined them into a product that could be sold to customers.

But isn't methanol dangerous? How can it be stored safely on board?

Storage is not a problem. You simply fill it into tanks. And as far as the danger is concerned, I hardly see any difference to petrol and diesel. Where methanol does differ, however, is that it burns invisibly. You can't see the flames - which is a bit scary. It is therefore necessary to look at heat rather than smoke measurement in order to recognise a potential danger on board at an early stage.

How do you fight a methanol fire if the worst comes to the worst?

With water. No special chemicals are needed, as methanol dissolves very quickly in water. From an ecological point of view, this is even an additional advantage: when methanol is emitted, it simply disperses in the water and does not cause any major damage.

What is the supply situation like? Are there already enough petrol stations for methanol?

I think Rotterdam has an official ship bunker. There are slowly becoming more, but they are still rare. Availability is still a real challenge. It's a chicken and egg problem: nobody will invest in a good methanol supply infrastructure as long as there are no methanol boats. And potential buyers of such boats will not want to invest as long as there is no infrastructure for them. It's a question of who takes the first step. I think that a small, innovative company like ours is very helpful for the market because we have a customer who is experimenting with us and financing part of it.

But where do you currently get methanol from?

You can order it on the internet and have a tanker lorry come. For example, you could go to Southampton by boat, call a methanol supplier and ask them to bring you 300 litres to Shamrock Quay. You don't need a traditional petrol station. However, you do need to find a supplier who can deliver methanol with a high degree of purity. It has to be 99.95 per cent pure. Most products are not. So all this is still in its infancy.

Why does it have to be so pure?

The so-called reformers, which produce hydrogen from a mixture of methanol and water, require high-purity methanol for the conversion process. Otherwise they do not work. That makes the whole thing difficult. At the moment, there is hardly anyone who produces such pure methanol. It is currently still a fossil fuel. Unfortunately, there is also the chicken-and-egg problem here: if someone shows that this stuff works and there is demand on the market, people will start producing more pure methanol. As long as that's not the case, there's mainly what you might call brown methanol, which is usually derived from coal or oil. That sounds like a big challenge.

How do you intend to manage them?

Decarbonising shipping is difficult. Because diesel is really good. It is not very dangerous and has a high energy density. Taking it away from the industry and replacing it with something more environmentally friendly is anything but easy. Especially when you're on a ship off the coast, where safety and reliability of propulsion are essential.

How big would the price difference be between a methanol and a classic diesel drive?

Oh, that would be considerable! A methanol drive is quite expensive. It's difficult to say at this stage what a ten-kilowatt reformer unit would cost. But if you can get a ten-kilowatt generator from Fischer Panda or another manufacturer for a few thousand pounds, then we're probably talking more like £100,000 for methanol propulsion. There aren't many customers currently willing to invest that much money. But the price will fall if the concept becomes popular. Initially, you need these innovative customers who want to do something different and make a difference.

But a wealthy customer alone will certainly not be able to finance the entire project, right?

That's right. We were lucky to be awarded government funding. A few years ago, we initiated the "Methanol Pathfinder UK" project with the engineers from Chartwell Marine, in which we essentially designed a ship with methanol propulsion. The aim of the continuation was to build a prototype propulsion system at our shipyard - which we are currently doing. However, we will also need support for this in the future. To get this, we have to hold our own against competitors who are competing for funding as part of the local Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition. We therefore hope that the government will make more funding available. The UK is normally pretty good at funding innovation to drive it forward.

So when will your first methanol catalytic converter come onto the market?

I think we are still at least two to three years away from a product that could be described as ready for series production. After that, it will be five to seven years before it really goes into production. Our first methanol-powered boat will be the all-electric 40, as this cat currently has no range extension at all and only runs on batteries. It is therefore a good test vehicle for this technology.