Sun, wind and distance

The Austrian brand, which has production facilities in Italy and Thailand, launched the first Silent 60 in May 2021. Standard 9 and 13 square metre tube kites were used on this construction number one during the tests off Mallorca. These are inflated on the foredeck, tethered and ejected to leeward. With its air tubes, the kite floats on the surface of the water and can be launched from here. Once in the air, it flies - in the photos still by remote control - and in future will automatically fly its figure eights by autopilot. A rod mounted on the stub mast and connected to a flying line then provides the system with permanent data on the kite's location. The kite is retrieved, focussed and steered using electric winches.

The Silent 60 managed to sail into the wind at up to 40 degrees and logged speeds of between four and five knots flat before the wind. Silent shipyard captain Mike Wandler reports from the bridge: "We then switched on the electric motors, which only consume one kilowatt each, to reduce the resistance of the propellers. This resulted in speeds of six to seven knots in the same direction of travel - a significant improvement on our original forecasts."

The kite boat system was developed by the Dresden-based company Wingit and has already been delivered to motor and sailing yachts. Silent Yachts has so far been able to win eight owners for the kite option. The Silent 60 relies on two electric motors with a peak output of 340 kilowatts each and a battery capacity of 286 kilowatt hours. Most of the energy is harvested via 42 solar panels, which deliver up to 17 kilowatts peak. The 17.99 metre long cat with a long waterline and negative stem is operated most economically at six to eight knots, but should be able to accelerate to a maximum of 20 knots.

Silent-Yachts recently found an owner for the Silent 100, an explorer version from the computers of Roman designer Marco Casali. As the kite system is offered as an option for all models, the 31 metre long and 13.62 metre wide flagship is more likely to have a 50 square metre kite on 150 metre long lines.