Sometimes a classic yacht is updated to current technology while still retaining its timeless good looks. The ketch Talisman, is a good example of that approach. The 75-foot yacht was built by Abeking & Rasmussen at its yard in Lemwerder, Germany in 1920 — reportedly the first steel-hulled yacht built by the yard. After an eventful life, which included lightning strikes and also a damaging fire, Talisman fell on hard times. In 2019 Talisman‘s new owner brought the boat to HCC Badeverft in Denmark for a complete refit that would include converting it to electric propulsion using a Torqueedo system.
From Torqeedo’s press release on the project: “Torqeedo’s Deep Blue 100 kW electric drive system would replace the diesel engine. A 25 kW electric bow thruster would be added for manoeuvrability. Both would be powered by a Deep Blue lithium-ion battery bank charged with renewable energy from onboard solar panels and by using the electric drive as a hydrogenerator when the yacht was under sail.
“The battery bank’s capacity of about 120 kWh allows for pure motor cruising up to 189 nautical miles (in calm weather, at an average speed of six knots). If extended motoring is required, a backup diesel generator is integrated into the Deep Blue system. It is positioned in the forecastle and is managed completely by the central system.
“The yacht is almost exclusively powered by the renewable energy generated by sun and wind. This power can be used wherever it is needed: for propulsion, for the 24 V onboard power supply or for operating devices with 230 V alternating current. Cooking is done on an induction stove and electric underfloor heating warms this classic beauty.”
Further steps were taken to make the yacht more eco-friendly: “The sails and ropes are sustainably produced from 100% recycled PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottles. The teak and mahogany that could not be salvaged come from certified plantation cultivation: every single plank processed in the shipyard is numbered and its origin can be traced.”