If you really want to get away from it all, take a look at the new Sphinx 40, a solar/electric cat developed by Sovereign Ships, a Pensacola startup.
The Sphinx is much more than one more environmentally friendly, fossil-free cruising boat. On its website, Sovereign says the new cat is designed for “living free on the sea,” and that the company’s mission “is to maximize personal freedom by creating self-sufficient, ocean-going homes.”
The Sphinx creates its own renewable power, it collects rainwater and has a desalination system for fresh water, a 97-square foot garden can grow carrots, potatoes, kale and other staples, and composting toilets reduce water for flushing and eliminate holding tanks.
Power comes from battery/electric propulsion, and the roof holds 728-square feet of solar panels to replenish the batteries. The boat is available with a wind turbine to generate power, and even a kite sail. The cat’s twin hulls are both stable and efficient.
The Sphinx holds eight to ten people in three or four cabins, and the boat has an interior galley, dining area, salon, office, two heads and an aft deck that expands with a drop-down transom.
Sovereign Ships is now building the first Sphinx as proof-of-concept, and it expects to deliver the first hull in 2025. Meanwhile, you can reserve one now. Base price: $425,670.
Specs: LOA: 40’; Beam: 22’; Draft: 3’9”; Disp.: 22,046 lbs.; Fuel: NA; Water: NA: Power: solar/electric. Read more:
