Where is our planet heading? What scenario is likely to unfold in the near future? It is difficult to say, but one of the most plausible concerns an environmental crisis. At present, many people who care deeply about the environment—as I do—hold views that differ from mine in at least two important respects. The first is the belief that the well-founded arguments put forward by scientists will be enough to persuade society to move gradually away from an oil-based civilisation towards one committed to reducing, or even removing, greenhouse gases. The second concerns the assumption that the gradual warming of the atmosphere implies an equally gradual pace for our response. Climate crises are indeed caused by global warming, but they are not proportional to it. What we must respond to are the crises themselves, not the warming alone.

I foresee a far more chaotic dynamic. Repeated catastrophes could rapidly change public attitudes, shifting them from those of a carefree consumer of fossil fuels to a form of energy austerity within a very short period of time.

If such a scenario were to become reality, we would not be ready. Would this mark the end of recreational boating? I do not believe so. The sea will always retain its appeal, and there will always be people who wish to experience it for pleasure, despite energy constraints and climate-related disasters. Recreational boating, however, as a social expression of our civilisation, would face considerable challenges.

Being unprepared means having no practical alternative to fossil fuels. Gigayachts may eventually adopt nuclear propulsion, but ordinary boat owners certainly will not. Electric propulsion - the most promising candidate, based on batteries, electric motors and propellers like Donald Duck’s little boat (a toy I had as a child) - has yet to make a significant breakthrough. Its use remains confined to specific and generally short-duration applications because of the size, weight and cost of batteries, but also because of persistent misconceptions that continue to compare electric and internal combustion propulsion solely in terms of range and top speed.

This is not a new challenge for electric marine propulsion. The first diesel engines were also heavy, bulky and offered limited specific output. The same applied to the earliest steam engines, not to mention the days when vessels relied on oars.

The solutions remain largely the same: slender, lightweight hulls combined with highly efficient propulsion systems. Today, however, digital control systems add another crucial element by making it possible to minimise energy waste through continuous monitoring of efficiency. The real challenge is to avoid wasting even a single joule and to promote the best compromise currently achievable between performance limitations and user expectations. In other words, there is little point in offering a boat capable of twenty hours of autonomy at three knots, just as there is little value in one that can reach thirty knots for only half an hour. A target of fifteen knots for eight hours, on the other hand, already appears within reach.

If I were to draw up a recipe, it would include solid-state batteries, offering roughly twice the energy density of today’s lithium-ion batteries; tubercled propellers capable of increasing efficiency by around 15%; wood, epoxy and carbon-fibre construction, providing an excellent balance between stiffness, weight and cost even for custom yachts under 24 metres; controllable-pitch propellers that optimise efficiency by adapting blade pitch to sea conditions; and balsa-core plywood to reduce the weight of interior furnishings.

Anyone exploring the world of long-range electric boating would still face higher costs, greater financial risks and operational limitations due to the lack of charging infrastructure. In short, encouraging the adoption of this type of technology will require some form of incentive capable of offsetting part of these additional costs.

Action is needed.

Michele Ansaloni