Meet Pegasus, the Finnish electric hydrofoil blending F1 flair with motorbike handling, which the makers say is poised to redefine luxury on water
Pegasus is a new electric hydrofoiling boat created by new Finnish company, FoilOne is now on show in Italy, participating in The Foiling Week, a gathering of like-minded foiling enthusiasts and foiling craft companies, which has been taking place annually since 2014.
This will be the first time many foiling enthusiasts will be able to see Pegasus in the flesh. But the concept has already impressed winning the award for Foiling Motorboat of the Year at the The International Foiling Awards earlier this year
Pegasus is certainly a cool looking foiling toy and it’s easy to see why it has turned the heads of awards judges. The designers say they turned to 1950’s era Formula 1 cars and that resemblance is hard to miss.
A wide grille-style bow and fuselage cockpit are the key F1-styling features and once it is foiling it looks for all the world like F1 throwback on stilts.
The lifting hydrofoils can be seen here underneath the stationary boat
But if styling is reminiscent of a car, then the handling will put drivers more in mind of a motorbike with an in-house developed steering system designed to make driving simple for the non-boater. Put simply steering inputs run directly to the front foil, mounted in front of the driver to provide a more motorbike-like feel as opposed to the traditional real-foil steering of a rudder or engines on water craft.
When cornering the whole boat leans over, carving on its foils in much the same way as any motorbike.
The advantage of hydrofoils is that they offer much less water resistance, once a craft is going fast enough to create the required lift from the wings under water. As such higher speeds can be achieved over longer periods for reduced fuel.
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The designers of Pegasus say this has enabled them to build an electrically powered boat that can go faster and further than it otherwise could.
The foiling system is modelled on foiling racing dinghies, with a sensing ‘wand’ linked to the foil flap. As the boat lifts up, the wand drops which scrubs ‘lift’ off the foil flap and vice versa.
This simple system essentially allows for a self adjusting ride height and has been used to great effect in foiling dinghies, such as the International Moth class, which have been leading the way in foiling development for 20 years.
FoilOne are not alone in heading down the hydrofoil route and the market for eclectic, foiling motor boats is in significant growth at present.
However, foiling does come at a cost, namely boats typically need to be as light as possible to enable easy, sustainable flight and thus take advantage of the drag benefits that come from being out of the water.
To ensure the minimum weight and maximum stiffness required to make foiling effective, Pegasus is built from Carbon Fibre. Which does not come cheap.
The sensing ‘wand’ is clearly visible here on the trailing edge of the front foil.
There is limited practicality here and there is no denying that Pegasus has been developed as a luxury toy, targeting the superyacht owning market. And pricing clearly reflects that.
Each boat will be hand built and is customisable, with limited build slots available. The base price is €109,900 and that’s before the 2 x 5 kWh Torqeedo electric batteries are added in, so the on-the-water cost will likely be closer to €120,000.
That is an eye-watering cost for a water toy. But it would not be the first toy to hit the market at similar cost and sell. It’s certainly very, very cool and in a money-no-object world I can’t say I wouldn’t be tempted.
Pegasus specifications
LOA: 4.88 m
Beam/Width: 0.95 m
Draft: 1.0 m with foils extended & displacement mode (0.3 m with foils up)
Weight: 200 kg
Motor: 18.8 kW
Battery: 2 x 5 kWh – Powered by Torqeedo
Range: 2h +
Charging: 0-100 % in under 2h
Speed: 18-22 kt cruise, 30 kt top speed
Builder: FoilOne
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