We are proud to present you to our new sponsors, Morand Constructions Métalliques and Swiss Green !
name: Knut
flag: Switzerland
lenght: 15,14 meters (50 feet)
width: 4,6 meters
draft: 3 meters
weight: 11 tons
model: aluminium one-off
birth: 1982
built in: Italy
designer: Alex Carozzo
berths: 6 folks in 3 cabins
sail surface: 125 square meters, without spinnaker
motor: electric, 20kW made by Kräutler (no diesel generator for power)
batteries: 50kWh lithium
energy: 2x 960W wind generators, 3kW solar, hydro-generator via engin while sailing
heat: wood stove + webasto air pulsed diesel heater
how the knut became the eco-Knut
The Knut is a prototype designed by Italian sailor Alex Carozzo in the 80s. We purchased this boat in Fiumicino, near Rome in 2014, then transported it to the Canary Islands to «see what it had in the belly.»
There we started by emptying everything. All that was left was the hull, deck and rigging. From that we made a polar expedition sailboat, cozy and functional, taking great care not to turn it into a «truck.»
Between the summer of 2015 and the fall of 2019, the boat only went below the Arctic Circle twice, to round Cape Farvel, south of Greenland. It squeezed itself through ice in many regions between eastern Spitsbergen and northwest Greenland. In winter 2019, we sailed down to Spain to change the only aspect of the boat that did not suit us: the engine. This old Fiat diesel had been running (so-so) for who knows how many years, but this time it was done. The new engine is electric. Simple, but the most complicated part is the batteries. We were lucky enough to get and recycle some «old» lithium phosphate iron batteries. The main problem is to charge batteries without connecting to the dock, because where we are sailing there are none. And the use of a diesel generator does not make sense to us. We want to change people’s mindsets, especially on expedition boats, which generally operate more like motorboats with a mast than like real sailing ships.
Wandering arong the Arctic talking about global warming while burning tons of fuel makes no sense to us.
