Thanks a lot, I might actually get back there soon, I still don't know how to reach out to you tho... send me an email to get in touch: thesailingfrenchman@gmail.com
Thank you for posting this. I ordered an Epropulsion Spirit 1.0 only this morning for my Sun 2000. Ever since I have been a bit worried as all the RU-vid videos that I’ve seen have been using them on inflatables or lightweight fishing craft on inland waters. I was sure it would be fine for my needs but wanted to see some proof. Now I’ve seen it. If it’s good enough for your boat when leaving and entering marinas it will be more than good enough for mine. I’ve subscribed to your channel. I sail out of La Rochelle so I will keep an eye out for your boat as you might well be in the area from time to time. Merci une fois de plus.
Saw the electric motor on Sailing Fair Isle and after watching your video I was like, "Where have I seen that before?". Good to see you have some maneuverability now.
This was very useful video. Would appreciate more similar (honest) ones on various gear on sailing boats. You did excellent job on this one to show benefits and potential issues and thus help both those of us considering buying and on other hand I believe manufacturers also can learn and address issues they may have.
Great review, really informative. Looks like an excellent product. Most sailors use their engine for less than 30 mins a day to get in and out of harbours, this is cleaner, more efficient and almost no maintenance.
Hey Hugo , electric outboard is super...i put it on my 21ft last season. for entering and leaving harbor priceless..new brushless motors are efficient and reliable.., many times i see guys sitting in the marina and fiddling around with combustion outboard motors instead of sailing...
Which ePropulsion model did you get? I see the Spirit 1.0 and Spirit Evo are both 3hp. Is that enough for your 21ft sailboat? Or did you need to get the Navy that comes in 6hp or 9.9hp?
Great information on your engine. Regeneration a major advantage. If you get a spare magnetic ignition switch, you will be sure you won't lose the one that came with the motor. It might be helpful to have some spray electronic cleaner aboard to use on the cable in case salt film causes poor contact.
Omg! Hugo, dont fix your own van 😂 there's additives you can put in the coolant system to slow it temporarily, another great video 👍 good luck with the new toy, best stay as far away from combustion engines as possible and get those sails up ⛵
Thanks my distant Future Friend! Appreciate the review… looking at getting one of these for new dingy on a 45’ sail boat. Any of you experienced Sailing Geniuses have any recommendations for a collapsing dingy (so it can be stowed when on longer passages)? We need one for two - three people! (Well… two people: 160 pound, one 108 pound, a small corgi, and two cats!) Seriously any suggestions be appreciated!
My following comments about electric engines are not related to this product. I have an electric yacht inboard engine in my boat. It was super easy to install and the cost wasn’t bad either. The real costs are in the batteries. On a motor such as mine 10kw, you need about 6.5 kts to get any measurable regeneration. So we essentially need to be at hull speed to get any benefit. I would expect a motor such as the one Hugo has to get regeneration at much slower speeds. Of course with his rocket, he doesn’t need to worry about it.
Does this 1kW engine provide enough thrust to get your mini into a harbor with 30 knot headwinds, or do you wish it had more power, for bad conditions?
I went with tohatsu propane 5HP. I wish more people would follow suit. Propane is a byproduct of gas production and it burns clean. No spills or fuel smell. It’s louder but everything else is better imo. I’m surprised propanes aren’t more popular tbh I think the marketing is the only reason
Great review thanks Hugo. I have a Dufour T7, designed for the Mini way back in the 70s. I've reviewed the subtitles and notice you got 'about 4knts' at full power. Is this 3.5-4 or more like 4-4.5? There so few reviews of these Spirit 1.0s powering daysailers and I'm really keen to switch to electric but I have to have 4knts min to cope with the tide where I sail. Hoping that my old fashioned pointed bow may be more slippery than a scowl when motoring!
On your ~1 ton boat, have you tried motoring into headwinds with the epropulsion? At 100% power, can it overcome 10 knot headwinds? 15 knot headwinds? 20 knot headwinds? My only concern about getting one of these is if winds are blowing straight out of a harbor and I have to motor into harbor for 10 minutes, overcoming up to 20 knots. I don't care if it would be slow, but could it overcome 20 knot winds upwind at 100% power for let's say 20 minutes if the battery is ~80% charged?
Great review thank you!! 😊 I have a 24ft semi displacement motor sailer at about 1.5 tonnes. I wonder if the Spirit 1.0 Evo would have enough torque to get in and out of the harbor and cruise around the bay (inlet)? I have a 8hp Diesel Engine built in but am looking for an auxiliary outboard motor. Any thoughts are welcome :) Thanks again for a great video and review.
Same here. My 22ft keel sailboat is slightly lighter 1.3 tonnes, but I use a 9.9 four stroke engine, which is quite heavy. I just bought a used Spirit 1.0 to test if it's good enough for getting me on the lake and see if gives enough speed to keep up with traffic on some channels. I'll keep you posted.
@@pinye. works well on a 1.6t 24ft sailboat for in and out of the harbor in good conditions. Tried against strong currents and head on 40km/h winds and had to turn the diesel engine on. But otherwise perfect for calmer conditions :)
Nice review dude! An another cool feature of this engine is that the battery pack floats!!!!! It is not a joke!!! Today with the hydrogeneration this little engine has no competitor. Certainly my next TT companion
Question; Greeat future that it can recharge it self, but is it possible to connect the boat to it to charge the batteries of the boat as well? Nice video again!
I would expect all you would need to do is measure the output from the unit when charging and find a charge controller that will accept that input voltage to feed your onboard batteries.
Salut Hugo, bien intéressant comme moteur. Idéal pour un petit bateau comme celui que j'envisage, il fait hydrogénération donc possibilité de recharger la batterie du moteur mais put être celle du bateau aussi? Possibilité d'utiliser la batterie pour alimenter le bateau lorsqu'elle n'est pas utilisée pour le moteur? Bref peut être le moteur et sa batterie pourraient remplacer la batterie du bateau + les panneaux solaires + le moteur de l'annexe + le moteur du bateau (je parle bien évidemment pour des bateaux de moins de 1T. Super test, à voir dans la durée. Marc
Oui exactement, en fait cette marque propose aussi des batteries domestiques qui peuvent etre montées pour alimenter le moteur et le réseau domestiques et peuvent inclure un input venant de panneaux solaires
I have what looks like your outboard bracket, the black plastic mounting board for the motor on mine has a flat back but the front is full of cavities which makes it difficult to clamp the motor to it. Is yours solid or does it also have the molded cavities in the front side? The stand offs are a good idea so you can fully tilt the motor up.
I am leaning towards epropulsion for my small 18 little cruising boat, I was wondering what is the weight of the boat you are testing the evo on? Awesome sailing, enjoy the journey.
Bonjour! J’hésite à faire l’acquisition de moteur. Quels sont les retours après une utilisation prolongée? Je pense par exemple à la longévité de la batterie. Pouvez vous nous raconter vos expériences avec ce moteur? Merci d’avance!
That's the best electric outboard I have seen so far. I am not going to point fingers but those electrics with the high whining sound drive me fucking nuts. The battery life is actually quite impressive for the electric outboard motors I have dealt with, but then it is a battery superior in size to the many electric outboard MOTORS I have played with. Engines burn fuel, motors run on electricity. Overall I am impressed with that electric outboard. In addition you do know, if the thing can charge its own battery, it can charge others aboard as well. just saying,,,,,
If there was a way to stick the battery under deck and extend a power lead to the motor, in addition to also being able to mount it as part of the outboard, that would provide great flexibility. Such a battery could also be your house bank that charges also from solar. And no maintenance. :)
Hi Hugo. This is an interesting looking product, the hydo-generation is a fantastic feature. Something I will have a look at. On the cable from the motor to the battery is there a cap for the plug? Or is there some other way to protect the plug terminals from sea water? That might be one of the more important maintenance items to watch. Maybe carry some contact cleaner and a bit of dielectric grease as a precaution.
I have the impression the engine's battery sooner or later will end up in the bottom of the ocean. It should have some type of safety connector or something in case you trip while you are removing it or something of that sort.
This seems like a great motor for cruising my small trimaran and the first one with a functional self charging system. Great! How much does the motor slow the boat down while charging?
Drag really depends on the boat, on a planning hull like mine, it's around 1kt between 2 and 4 kts boat speed, then 0.5kt between 5 and 7kts, then no more loss. I'd assume it's around the same figures on a light tri
That slamming into the waves ... How much slamming can a GRP sailboat take? I heard of people delaminating their bulkheads from the hull because of that. I always cringe when I slam hard into a wave like that. What is your take? Especially in the Med where you can have short and tall waves and confused seas. I'm really curious. How often does this happen on a racer in a big storm like you had in the Antarctic Ocean? How dangerous can it get for the boat?
Well, it's a fine line between too much slamming and going too slow, especially in racing. On a cruising boat, don't worry about delamination, boats are made strng enough to withstand crashing in docks. Race boats try to save on weight, so its a different story
that is the slickest reef system ive ever seen. Was it really blowing 35 kts? Nice camera work too. Really enjoyed this segment. Why put the battery on the engine? Wouldnt it be safer to run a wire? That reef system, amazing!
Looks like an awesome motor thete are 2 features that I would like: One to charge the boats batteries not just it's own battery and B to have option to use the battery remotely, like to have the battery inside a cockpit locker.
Totally agree, question is whether it could handle the abuse and power created at speed behind a boat like Hugo’s. The Vendée Globe saw several hydro generators burn out I believe cause they aren’t expected to run at such high speeds. It would be awesome on a cruiser to charge batteries on a dull day when solar ain’t putting out
Don't need to charge boat battery. Just have one extra battery and 2 ports inside. 12V and duble capacity. When using one battery for propulsion, one is always House battery. For small boats would be perfect. Modular and chargebal at the same time. And for raising they can make only hidrogeneration modul. Baseclly all in one product
Great with the new regeneration! We built a daysailer also equipped with a spirit 1.0, a tip is to use E-Ps extension cable so you can have the battery inside the cockpit and don’t need to huzzle with it outside the boat in waves!
Bonjour Hugo. Je suis ta chaîne depuis... Le Maxi et pas le début (parce que je suis décidé à faire la classe mini). Honte à moi mais j'ai tout visionné depuis). Tes vidéos sont vraiment top et ça me permet de continuer à "vivre" Mini pendant que je suis immobilisé (accident de moto = multiples fractures). Bref. Ce moteur à vraiment l'air au point mais est-ce qu'il est utilisable en course mini ? Est-ce qu'on peut "plomber" la fonction propulsion et ne garder que la fonction hydrogénérateur pour la course ? Parce que ça fait presque doublon avec le watt&sea que tu as installé au début du projet mini. Histoire d'économiser cet hydrogénérateur top mais cher.
Salut Thomas, merde pour l'accident de moto, je m'identifie pas mal... Pour utiliser le moteur en course... je ne sais pas, c'est une question qu'il faudrait poser à la Classe Mini. C'est effectivement une option à considérer, selon la performance que tu recherches, dans mon cas, le moteur est plus lourd que le watt&sea, donc je privilégie le poids, mais sur un projet avec un bateau plus vieux et moins performance, c'est une idée à creuser ouai Bon vent
Would be more interesting to learn more about what your “training” involves. Also some perspectives on the sponsor search - how do you do this, what are sponsors looking for, which companies to target, how to approach them etc etc.
J'avais hésité lors de l'achat de mon bateau (Seascape 24) entre 4tps et électrique... Au regard de ta vidéo je regrette un peu.... Mais une option pour le futur.... Merci Hugo ça fait du bien d'être même par procuration sur un bateau... 2020 avait été déjà très courte... 2021 n'a toujours pas démarré..... On attend les images de tes entraînements à La Rochelle. Peut-être pourrais tu détailler comment se passe ces sessions d'entraînement... Type d'exercices... Répétitions... Pour nous inspirer lorsque l'on retournera sur l'eau. Merci Hugo
Not an engineer, but I would guess the reason for the pitch in the blades is less to do with making the boat go faster, but to increase the rate the battery recharges while under sail. Adjusting the pitch to increase boat speed will slow the rate the battery recharged.
One could have a separate generator, like the old log line trailed behind. That way no need for compromise on the props. But then surely someone has thought of that?
Interested to know the figures on recharging. Start at 80% charge, 10 mins under power, how long does it take to charge back up to 80% at 6knots. How much speed do you lose with it in the water and charging vrs not in the water?
10min of use > one hour of recharge to compensate the use at around 6kts Drag really depends on the boat, on a planning hull like mine, it's around 0.8kt below 7kts, then no more loss. On a displacement hull, drag is barely noticeable
more pitch to the prop means that the regen wont work at slower speeds. more speed means more power so its range drops. it might be worth it for some people though
Bjr Hugo Et bien c’est super ce test, je dois m’acheter un moteur pour mon annexe et je voudrais un électrique, le choix se porte soit sur torqeedo ou sur epropulsion que j’ai découvert il y a environ 3 semaine !! Est-ce qu’il y a un woucher de réduction de epropulsion si on appelle de ta part ?🤟🏻 Amitiés et vraiment ton boat est magnifique !!
Helo! On the one hand you pilot a sailboat that is naturally powered by wind and now you even bought an electric motor. On the other hand, you have a diesel van with a very polluting engine and as it has a malfunction it still pollutes the atmosphere much more. Don't you think it's too inconsistent from you?
Here is another question to add in the mix. What has the higher cost on the environment: carry on using a van that is a little bit more polluting that newer versions? Or buy a new van, which has more than 3000 parts, all made in different countries, which each part had to travel thousands of miles in container ships, plane, trucks, and not to talk about raw materials... I think my good old van is still greener ;)
Thanks Hugo, the new motor sounds great look forward to your future review when its been working a while. Not sure if I missed it but any idea of what it costs?
Hugo, I’ve been watching your videos and vicariously living you experiences. I’ve been racing sailboats for the past 50 years; one designs and offshore. You are doing the things I wished I could have done. I would be happy to help with some of your expenses, but I am not very fluent with channels of forwarding funds. What is the easiest way for me to help you with financing? Paul Guidi PS good luck
Hey Paul, glad you like the videos, sharing the videos is already a great way to help me. For more, here is a paypal link to a money pot in case you want to give a hand to my mini project :) paypal.me/pools/c/8syrTNvV1y Thanks a lot
I like the idea of an electric. Looks to be quite useful for that application. Didn't much care for the price though when I looked it up. Stuff like that is why I'm not on board the "green train" that everyone's pushing so hard for. That aside from the fact that under current tech, getting the power for it isn't green at all.
Hello jeune homme, il serait judicieux d'assurer la batterie avec un bout quand tu la remonte ou la descend sur le moteur ... Un accident est vite arrivé ... Bonne continuation et bon vent.