Yanmar all-electric saildrive to debut at Cannes Yachting Festival

Yanmar, the largest manufacturer of saildrives in the world, is launching its much anticipated first electric model, the E-Sail Drive, at the Cannes Yachting Festival, September 10 to 15 in Cannes, France.

Plugboats first reported on the drives in WaVeS #17 on March 3 with the final note “We will let you know when all of the details are available.” 

At the Miami International Boat Show I had a chance to chat with Yanmar Global Sales Manager Bas Eerden about the new electric saildrive the company announced in early February. While there was a video display of the new drives, the actual products will not be revealed until later this year. As with all Yanmar products, they are undergoing multiple tests and quality assurance checks before release to dealers and the boat-buying public. We will let you know when all of the details are available.

Well, some details are now available, and all will be revealed in Cannes.

With hundreds of thousands of Yanmar diesel motors installed in sailboats all over the world, the company’s philosophy in offering an electric option is to have a ‘plug and play’ E-Sail Drive range that is designed to give those boaters a seamless transition to electric power by utilizing a straightforward installation platform.

The company says in their news release that “emissions-free saildrive is built on an integrated system with all the components on one platform. It is fitted on existing footprints or as a drop-in replacement for combustion engines, making the switch to 100% electric boating easier and quicker. The E-Sail Drive is offered in three models – the SDe7 kW, the SDe10 kW and the SDe15 kW.”

Floris Lettinga, Director of Sales and Marketing at YANMAR Marine International, said: “Our electric propulsion system is different to others on the market. Our technicians have created a clever, integrated system on a plug and play platform which helps boaters to easily switch to electric propulsion. We are all on a sustainability journey together and with the E-Sail Drive solution we are aiming to inspire boaters to join us in reducing our environmental impact one step at a time.”

The SDe15 kW saildrive will be shown at the YANMAR stand at the CYF,  Palais 118. The SDe10 kW will be shown on YANMAR’s demo boat named ‘Hanasaka’, named after the term used to describe YANMAR’s philosophy of pushing boundaries to create new beginnings and possibilities for the future. The YANMAR team will be available at stand Palais 118 to provide information and answer questions on the E-Sail Drive range.

Yanmar  Cannes Yachting Festival

Exciting things are happening every day in electric boats and boating.
Subscribe to the Plugboats newsletter so you don’t miss a thing!
(Or follow us on social media)

Add Plugboats to your Google News Feed