The F800 from new electric boat builder ESEA. Their philosophy is in their name.

Riding the wave of the launch of their first model – the F800 – at Boot Dusseldorf, electric boat builder ESEA has completed its initial seed funding round. It is now set to build on its long term vision: a new generation of boats that are environmentally responsible, intuitive to use and designed around the real needs of modern boaters.

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“We founded ESEA with the belief that boating should feel simple, intuitive and enjoyable” said Co Founder and Director Dee Du. “With the F800, we have taken a fully integrated approach, bringing together propulsion, controls and onboard systems into a single, cohesive design that creates a more seamless and responsive experience on the water.”

Easy • Smart • Silent

Du and his co-founders started with a core team and its extensive experience in yacht fleet management, superyacht sales and non-naval software design. That variety of viewpoints was essential in realizing that there was a significant gap in the market for people who love the idea of getting out on the water but do not come from sailing or boating backgrounds.

These are people who are busy at work and have lots of other interests in their leisure time. They want a boat that is simple to operate and does not require significant maintenance or technical know-how. The team came up with ‘Easy · Smart · Silent’ as their mantra for what these customers wanted and the company name and brand ‘ESEA’ (easy) was a natural.

Optimized displacement hull

The team consulted with award-winning superyacht designers and called on the talents of the UK’s  Thorne Yacht Design to execute on the naval architecture and incorporating / integrating all ESEA philosophy elements into the F800.

The starting point is electric propulsion – a simple and fundamental choice for something that strives to be easy, smart and silent. The silent part is a given. The easy part is there with a motor and drive that are the next thing to maintenance-free. And because the mechanical parts run on electrons rather than atoms, it is much easier to link ongoing performance with digital controllers and monitors. The results are more precise, more flexible, more programmable. In a word: smart.

To make the most of an electric boat requires an efficient hull to minimize energy/power requirements and maximize range. One of the ways the F800 achieves that is its almost knife-sharp bow. With an angle too severe to be done with a single mould, it uses the split-hull technique in which the hull is made of separate port and starboard sections bonded together after the moulding.

Range of up to 11 hours

The range is impressive. The 20 kW (35 hp) motor can power the F800 for almost 11 hours at 6 knots (11 kmph / 7 mph), providing a distance range of 67 Nautical miles (124 km / 77 mi). The boat can go faster – up to double that speed – but the ‘sweet spot’ of the displacement hull is the slower rate. As Du reminded me in Düsseldorf, speed is not what the ESEA driver is looking for.

They are looking for simple  and easy, and speed almost always comes with more complexity. The driver/pilot needs to be more attentive about everything, both inside and outside the boat, looking out for deadheads and obstructions, deciding what angle to take the waves. Inside the boat the passengers need to worry about moving around or spilling a drink.

The smart controls of the F800 are designed to make life easy for the person at the helm. To reduce any sudden jumping forward or backward when docking, a dock mode button initiates a ‘digital gear’ that makes the throttle less sensitive. The steerable pod drive also helps with its rotation arc of 270 degrees.

A large, easily understood monitor screen displays the most important information in a way that can be understood intuitively: speed, location, battery state of charge and remaining range. Although more detailed information can be easily revealed when necessary, the ESEA customer is not looking to know at every moment what the RPMs and voltage are. They are on the water to relax with friends and family.

To that end, there is an expansive social area in the bow ahead of the centre console, and a large sun bed and swimming platform at the stern. A ‘virtual anchor’ can automatically maintain the boat’s location at a swimming or eating/drinking spot so the driver can participate in the fun. The system also has remote locking and geo-fencing to keep it within certain areas.

Electric boat builder focussed on user experience

There are other details around the boat that may not be noticed immediately but make life on board just a little more enjoyable. The deck lights all shine downward so they are never shining directly in the face of the passengers. The cooler box is easily reached from any nearby seat.

When I asked Du what he wanted people to feel after being on the boat, he said “The goal is for them to have an easy experience, whether they are driving it or as a passenger. No friction, just enjoyment.

They can really enjoy water and the natural surroundings without any noise and their food and drinks without any fumes and smoke. Really, everything is designed for the name of the boat – easy. That’s our philosophy. Make everything easy for the user.”

That simple and easy philosophy steers everything the company does. The recent investment will be used to advance their idea of a modular product architecture for a range of boats and a globally adaptable manufacturing model for scalability.

The first step in that direction is a new 6 metre (≈ 20 ft) model under development that will extend the company’s design philosophy into a broader segment of the market, supporting its ambition to make electric boating more accessible for those who want their on-water experience to be easy, smart and silent.

ESEA website