Nemesis Yachts has put forward a blue-sky vision for a super-fast, hydrogen-powered, autonomous luxury catamaran that can rise out of the water on hydrofoils to achieve crazy speeds over 50 knots. Oh, and you can swap this 300-footer's cabins out.
The fuel cell hydrogen system will be augmented with a decent amount of battery storage, and those batteries will be kept topped up by "up to 750 square meters (8073 sq ft) of solar panels," generating up to 150 kW of power. On its own, the hydro-electric propulsion system will take the Nemesis One up to about 18 knots, but once its giant wing sail is fully deployed, the company tells us "it will definitely be the world's fastest sailing yacht (if one considers the wing a sail.)"
The craziness doesn't stop there. Nemesis is promising to keep crew requirements to an absolute minimum by automating the operation of the yacht's huge "Oceanwings" wing sail. No pulling ropes for these guys; hydraulic and electric systems will work with the yacht's computers to automatically adjust the sail's angle of attack, camber and twist to account for wind conditions and the direction you're headed.
The automated sail, developed by France's Ayro, a spin-off from high-performance hydrofoil specialists VPLP, is also automatically raised, reefed and lowered using a concertina-like design. Already up and running as an 8-meter (26-ft) prototype, the sail system interfaces with the propulsion and navigation systems, and Nemesis claims its intelligent design makes it 2.6 times more efficient than a conventional sail plan of equal size.
The company also claims it'll be fully autonomous on the water if needed, running LiDAR to detect obstacles, as well as keeping track of what the sea is up to with wave height, shape and frequency readings. Thus, its complex-looking cockpit could well be a simple push-button affair.
The foils, too, will be automated, constantly adjusting themselves to maintain passenger comfort on deck. In "performance mode," when you're gunning for that 50-knot-plus top speed, the windward side foil will lift out of the water, reducing drag at the expense of some comfort.
This is by no means a small boat. Nemesis One is designed to be 101 m (332 ft) long, and 39 m (128 ft) wide, with a colossal 89-m-high (292-ft) sail. Its decks and living quarters are expansive and ludicrously opulent in these renders, with the capability to "pop the top" on the sides of the boat to enjoy a sleep under the stars if the weather's right.
In a bizarre twist, the entire "living modules" are designed to be detachable, so you can keep your own yacht bedroom pristine on shore somewhere and drop in another with a crane if you're lending it to somebody, or using it for a big party, or whatever the heck yacht people do out there. Removing both modules and leaving them on land puts this big cat in its "ultra-light race mode" configuration, so you can go and race it against all the other 300-foot racing yachts out there.
This is a hugely ambitious project in our view, but Nemesis CEO Richard Ruthenberg tells us he doesn't think the scope is too far out there. "The team behind this project has an impressive amount of accomplished projects under its belt. We do not consider this bleeding-edge technology, we're simply combining existent and industry proven features in a smart way that hasn't been done to date."
And hey, many things can be overcome when bulk cash is marshaled to a task, and there's no denying the fact that the rich have never been richer. Some bored billionaire may find himself inclined to cast off a couple hundred mil from the outskirts of his hoard to see this built, and the world may end up one big, sexy boat the richer for it.
Check out a video below.
Source: Nemesis Yachts
