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Electric Propulsion Systems

Vision Marine Going After Electric Boat Speed Record

Two-time Formula 1 champion Shaun Torrente knows a thing or two about making outboard-powered boats go fast.

Vision Marine Technologies, the manufacturer of the E-Motion 180-hp electric outboard engine, is planning to go after the world speed record for an electrically powered boat. The company is putting two of its engines on a 32’ Hellkat high-performance catamaran and collaborating with two-time Formula 1 powerboat racing champion Shaun Torrente on the project. The goal is to run 100 mph.

The boat is a Super-Sport Widebody go-fast cat built by Hellkats’ Powerboats of Miami and will be named Fulgura 1. Plans call for her to hit the water in November.

Hellkats is a fairly new player in the performance catamaran game and the record could help the company gain exposure.

Torrente is said to be building special lower units for the engines. He will supervise the rigging of the boat and will run it in the record attempt. In addition to being a Formula 1 competitor, Torrente also races offshore, throttling the 32’ Doug Wright catamaran, CMR Roofing, in the Super Stock class. With driver’ Eric Belisle, Torrente has claimed two checkered flags in the 2021 season.

The E-Motion is the most powerful electric outboard on the market, rated at 180 hp.

The current record for electrically powered boats is 88.6 mph, set by Jaguar Vector Racing in 2018 with a single-engine Formula 1 style boat similar to the one that Torrente drives for Team Abu Dhabi.

At this year’s Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, a Vision Marine Technologies Bruce 22 powered by the company’s E-Motion 180e engine set a new speed record for electric boats at the event. It ran 49 mph in its third and final run, upping the mark of 30 mph that had been set in 2019. This was the third year for an electric category at the Shootout.

The Vision Marine Technologies Bruce 22 in full flight at the 2021 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout.