Lagoon 500 (Wallpaper 2) Ship Gallery | OceanShooter

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Lagoon 500 (Wallpaper 2). Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship images wallpaper gallery 2. Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship photos and pictures wallpaper collection 2. Lagoon 500 hit the water September 10 in Bordeaux, France, equipped with twin 16 kw motors, twin 15 kw generators, twin cross chargers, a new bus-based Eplex control system, high-tech props and standard AGM batteries in place of the previously planned nickel-metal-hydride batteries. (See NiMH story.) "It's everything I ever envisioned," says Dave Tether, CEO of Electric Marine Propulsion, dba E motion Hybrids. "We worked like dogs on last-minute touchups the day before, but the launch itself went very smoothly." Built at the CNB factory of Groupe Bénéteau, Lagoon's parent company, the hybrid 500 is the first new boat to be launched with our 16 kw motors, manufactured for EMP by BluWav Systems, Rochester Hills, MI. "They produce about 60% more torque than our 9 kw models," Tether says, "and they're scalable to even larger sizes." Lagoon 500 (Wallpaper 2). Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship images wallpaper gallery 2. Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship photos and pictures wallpaper collection 2. The new props, from ZF Marine, were selected to take advantage of the 16 kw motor's high torque. Seventy percent of the blade's width is concentrated toward the periphery of the disk, where rotational speeds are faster and most of the thrust is produced. "The farther out the blade width is, the more thrust you get," Tether says. "The part near the hub just creates turbulence. It's wasted surface area ripping through the water." The ZF props have a 19 inch diameter and 16 inch pitch. Previous Tether installations with 9 kw motors on 40-44 foot cats used 18 inch props varying from 14 to 16 inches in pitch. Tether notes that the props, mounted on conventional inboard shafts, are located in front of the rudders rather than behind, as they are with the standard saildrive units. Water thrust back from the E motion props flows directly past the rudders, which improves steering. For its initial test and evaluation the boat will have a set of standard 12 volt AGM batteries from our European supplier, Victron Energy, in place of the nickel-metal-hydride batteries planned originally. "Lagoon wants a minimum number of variables during this crucial test period with our new system in their new boat," Tether says. "And Victron's AGMs are standard marine batteries with well known characteristics." Redundancy is another of the big boat's features: the twin 15 kw generators provide plenty of backup battery charging power, while either can power the motors at comfortable cruising speed if the other has problems. Lagoon 500 (Wallpaper 2). Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship images wallpaper gallery 2. Lagoon 500 Catamarans Sailing Ship photos and pictures wallpaper collection 2.