Historic Ligurian boatyard Giorgio Mussini takes its first step towards the ecological transition and announces the launch of the electric Corvetta, its first completely green boat. Construction of the new hull of one of Portofino’s most iconic boats, equipped with an innovative electric engine, will be completed by the summer. This is a real revolution for the Mussini shipyard, which has always been synonymous with Italian craftsmanship and know-how thanks to its long experience in building all-wood boats: if this is already the ecological material par excellence that distinguished Giorgio Mussini’s marvellous creations, now the power supply will also be clean energy.
The official presentation of the new electric Corvetta, announces Marketing Manager Emanuela Bertullo, “will take place in July in the Portofino marina, where our yard is based and where an electric recharging station, supplied by Aqua, will be installed for the occasion. The electric Corvetta will also be premiered at the next Cannes Yachting Festival”.
Elegant and sophisticated, the Corvetta 24 has always been associated with the summer dolce vita of Portofino. It is a luxurious and enjoyable 8-metre day cruiser that combines comfort, speed and easy handling with seaworthiness. In particular, the mahogany and teak finishes give the unmistakable handcrafted feel that only wood can provide. This is precisely why the Mussini yard’s project is an absolute first in the boating sector: so far, in fact, projects for electric or hydrogen-powered boats have only focused on superyachts and large vessels, while the electric Corvetta will be the first recreational boat with a clean engine designed for families, day trips and slow tourism on the seas and lakes. The idea was born two years ago at Mussini, a company that has always made experimentation its watchword, not only with the work of founder Giorgio but also that of his son Gaetano, now head of the company, and his granddaughter Emanuela Bertullo.
The Mussini shipyard turned to E4Boat, a network of highly innovative companies in the fields of advanced robotics (Terzago Robotics), electrified and hybrid propulsion (4E Consulting) and shipbuilding (Selene Shipyards), to supply the engine for the electric Corvetta. “We’ve had the idea for some time,” says Mr. Bertullo, “but we needed a partner for the electric engine and it wasn’t easy to find the right solution. The engine is fundamental for a boat like the ones we build, because performance is important and the transition from an endothermic engine to an electric one is not trivial. Two years ago, before the pandemic, we had already started looking for trusted suppliers and began studying the possibility of am electrically-powered boat. Then the arrival of Covid-19 stopped everything until, last summer, Marco Geraci, chairman of Selene Shipyards, happened to come aboard one of our charter boats; and so, while we were talking about the Cinque Terre marine protected area and Portofino, our idea for an electric boat came up and we started the project”.
There were other potential partners on Mussini’s agenda, but in the end the choice fell on Selene and E4Boat for reasons that go beyond the technical and technological issues: “We had found someone with the same enthusiasm as us and the desire to do something together. We are sea people, who love and respect the sea, and with them we found the best solution that combines historical tradition and technological innovation to create a boat that respects the environment,” concludes Emanuela.
The one supplied by E4Boat for the Corvetta is a permanent magnet electric motor with a minimum power of 30 kW, static power converter and battery modules totalling 65 kWh (autonomy 4 hours at 16 kW absorption). The total weight is 550 kg and it will be housed in the boat’s existing compartments, one on each side of the hull and one in the compartment housing the current endothermic engine. “Zero environmental impact and silence ensure boaters a renewed experience of the sea: one in which the sound of the waves, the breeze and sea animals, what surrounds them, together with a gentle lapping sound on the hull, is music,” comments Luca Terzago, CEO of Selene Shipyards and Terzago Robotics. ” What’s more, the reliability of an electric motor, compared to an endothermic one, is much higher. This translates into very low maintenance requirements while ensuring a drastic reduction in the risk of breakdowns. Last but not least, energy supply costs are almost negligible”.
