Silent Yachts is building its new ocean-going Silent 79 solar-powered catamaran, a long-range cruiser with unlimited range at 6 or 7 knots and a top speed of 20 knots. The luxurious cat with a minimalist design is Silent’s largest solar yacht yet, and is designed after the Silent 55, which made its debut at the Cannes Yachting Festival this past September. An Austrian company, Silent is building its first three 79s at an Italian yard in Marotta, near the major shipbuilding town of Ancona on the Adriatic. The first is scheduled to be launched in 2020. The standard Silent 79…

The new totally solar-powered Silent 55 catamaran will be launched at the Cannes Yachting Festival, starting Sept. 11. Silent-Yachts, the cat’s Austrian builder, says it is the first production cruising catamaran powered exclusively by solar energy. The self-sufficient Silent 55 uses electric propulsion for unlimited range, with no carbon footprint, no noise and no fumes. It can cruise at 6 to 7 knots, all day and all night. The new Silent 55 is available in several power configurations. In the Cruiser version, it has two 30 kW motors; The E-Power version has two 250 kW motors, and the Hybrid Power…