Flying electric boats could save Venice's heritage from erosion
Venice, beloved around the world for its canals, art, and historic architecture, has always lived in a fragile balance. The city's main mode of transport is boats, but the wave motions are a constant enemy of the picturesque city that is built on top of a muddy, saltwater lagoon off the northeastern coast of Italy.
But now a new Swedish-designed electric boat that flies above the water, presented during the Salone di Nautica boat show, might be a solution to the city's erosion problem.
The erosion issue is known as 'moto ondoso', where the wakes of motorboats - the water buses ('vaporetti') and ferries that transport locals and tourists around its canals - wash against the walls of the canals, causing erosion to the city's iconic buildings.
Swedish company Candela's electric boat, known as the Candela C-7, runs on hydrofoils which are underwater 'wings' controlled by a computer that lift the hull of the boat into the air, giving it the motion of flying above the water. Candela says its modern technology significantly reduces the 'moto ondoso' damage by around 80 %.
The boat has five sensors that reads the water and speaks to the computer system in the boat and the computer system tells the foils to move and they move 100 times a second, back and forth and diagonal to keep the boat stable. So when you are up flying it takes off at about 15 knots," explained Maria Rohman, marketing and partner manager of Candela Speed Boat, as she drove the Candela C-7 above the water of the lagoon during a test drive at the weekend.
Candela says its technology means the boat travels silently on battery-power using a small amount of energy, creating a wake that is less than 5 cm high, similar to a wake produced by the traditional rowing boats of the city.
Before it has been impossible because you need huge batteries to be able to compete with the combustion engines but when you foil it you drastically drop consumption. We have the same consumption in five knots as you have in 20 knots,Rohman said.
The tech company is working on building a water taxi and water ferry using the same technology that they hope will be ready to fly next year. Candela hopes their hydrofoil boats will eventually be a staple way of travelling through in Venice, reducing pollution and erosion in the lagoon city.
(Source: Reuters)
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