Centre console boats for fishing, families and water sports are the most popular recreational vessels in the world, with around 50,000 sold annually in the US alone and many more globally. The Swedish-made Candela C-8 Centre Console (C-8 CC) is designed to electrify the world’s best-selling boat segment, offering unprecedented electric speed, range and energy efficiency that is several times higher than traditional gas boats, providing an unmatched boating experience for anglers, families, and water sport enthusiasts alike.
Flying on computer-guided hydrofoils, underwater wings, the Candela C-8 CC soars above chop and wake, using 80% less energy than conventional vee hulls, enabling a range of 57 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 22 knots. This is three times longer than any other electric boat on the market. For mooring, the foils retract into the hull at the push of a button on the touchscreen, so the boat can be stored on a trailer or beached.
Flying smoothly across the sea, conversing with your passengers at a normal tone of voice, and then arriving at your destination having spent only a few euros worth of electricity getting there – that’s a better boating experience.
Gustav Hasselskog, founder and CEO of Candela
Once foil-borne at 16 knots, the vessel’s Candela C-POD direct-drive pod motor is near-silent in flight. Soaring over the waves, the C-8 CC is stabilized by its Flight controller, a computer which adjusts the hydrofoils 100 times per second to ensure a steady and bump-free ride in waves and chop.
While traditional centre console deep-vee fishing boats are known for their appetite for fuel, the electric Candela C-POD motor efficiently converts the stored electricity in the batteries to thrust, resulting in minimal wastage of energy to propel the vessel forward. Combined with Candela’s hydrofoils that reduce water friction, this results in unmatched efficiency. While 28/29-foot deep-vee boats often have a pair of 400hp outboards, the C-8 CC’s single 100hp pod motor is enough to take off with eight people on board, at a cost that is less than 10 dollars for a full battery charge. The motor requires no maintenance for 3,000 hours.
Once at anchor, Candela C-8 CC offers its passengers an open bow with seating, a wet bar, sofas for up to six passengers around a table, an enclosed head, sunbed, extended swimming platform with shower, 6-speaker in-hull stereo system and angler features, such as rod holders and depth sounder.
“It’s really the best fishing machine at low speeds. With foils down, it doesn’t drift and is incredibly stable. Our Candela C-POD motor is like a high-power outdrive combined with a slow-speed trolling motor in one unit”, says Gustav Hasselskog, founder and CEO of Candela
Made from 100% carbon fibre, the C-8 CC starts at €330,000, including a 15.4″ navigational screen and free over-the-air updates of the User Interface and Flight controller, which will unlock new features over the boat’s lifetime. Pre-orders started at the beginning of April, with first deliveries slated for summer 2024.
Previously, Candela described its hydro foiling technology as “the iPhone moment for electric boats”, suggesting it could solve Venice’s problem of drag from motorboats soaring through the canals damaging the foundations of old houses and endangering the city’s precious architecture. The company also aims to replace today’s large, predominantly diesel, ferries with nimble fleets of faster and smaller P-12 Shuttles, allowing for more frequent departures and more passengers carried, at a lower cost for the operator, with the hydro foiling electric ferry set to hit Stockholm’s waters this year.
