Solar-powered powerboats are no longer uncommon, and the integration of solar panels into sails is also being worked on: Sailmakers France has promised to launch such sails as early as this autumn. Meanwhile, industrial designer Sebastian Campos Moller has gone a step further in the solarization of the yachting industry and has developeda boat with solar panels integrated into the horizontal ribs of the sail. According to the designer's concept the solar panels will power the electric motor and the lead in the keel will form a huge accumulator.
The 40-meter-long boat, Kira, is designed in such a way that it can be operated by one person using a computer. The boat has a hammock in the bow. The gunwale wall slides inside the deck for easier boarding. Computer-controlled winches and navigational instruments are located on the fly bridge. A bathing platform is installed aft. Moller not only "drew" the hybrid sailboat, but also 3D-printed the physical model.
The Kira project won the bronze medal of the International Design Excellence Awards 2014.
