Before electric boats even create a significant enough ripple on the lakes and waterways near you, Seattle-based Zin Boats is creating a vessel that it says will beat all the rest — in speed, power, range and more.
Inside the company’s Interbay headquarters in Seattle, GeekWire stepped aboard the 37-foot Z11, Zin’s new electric tender boat. It’s designed to quickly shuttle future customers back and forth to their megayachts and other destinations, with a price tag to fit that lifestyle.
The boat will be one of four parked in the “garage” of a 389-foot hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered superyacht launched in the Netherlands called Project 821. Previous reports linked that project at one time to Bill Gates, while mentioning that the Microsoft co-founder decided to sell the yacht. We reached out to Gates’ reps for comment on his boating aspirations.
In a post on its Instagram feed, Zin Boats only says that it’s spent two top-secret years on the Z11 and that the boat is intended for a “confidential client.”
But it’s more than just one boat. It’s a “platform,” according to founder and CEO founder Piotr Zin, who envisions multiple boat styles beyond the tender — from speedboats to Pacific Northwest “cruisers” — using the same underlying technology.
“We spend all this time developing what’s underneath the floor,” Zin said. “What’s above the floor — your imagination is the only limit on this. This is a plug and play.”
Zin’s mindset reveals the company’s evolution from its first concept model, the speedy Z2R which GeekWire checked out in January. The Z11 is packed with advances in battery and charging technology, including 400kWh of energy storage. It features electric joystick steering for easy docking, custom software controls, and more to help it achieve what the company calls “world firsts”:
- Speed: World’s fastest electric tender (60+ mph).
- Power: World’s largest electric tender propulsion system (2000 peak horsepower).
- Range: World’s leading range for an electric tender (100+ nautical miles under normal operating conditions).
“This boat will go from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C., on a single charge, no problem, at a decent speed of about 10 to 15 knots,” Zin said. “If you want to get really fast, you can go from Seattle to Port Townsend at 45 knots. That is terrifying, because you’re getting over there in 30 minutes.”
Price could create a sinking feeling, for less-wealthy buyers — Zin Boats expects various models to cost between $1.75 million and $3.75 million. But Zin said he also has plans for a boat that will cost less than $200,000, which he calls a bargain when you factor in the regular cost of maintenance and fuel on gas-powered boats.
Zin has a two-decade design background that stretches from tech to automotive to marine, with stints at Microsoft, GM, BMW, Brunswick Boat Group, and more. He’s leading the company with President and COO David Donovick, another Microsoft vet who previously founded and led Pivotal Living, makers of a wearable fitness tracker.
“We want to electrify the marine system,” Zin said. “We will put pleasure back into pleasure boating.”
The company has raised $1.275 million in seed funding in its bid to make its mark on the $5 billion global electric boat market. Other industry players have included Seattle-based Pure Watercraft, X Shore, Arc and others. Pure hit rough waters recently and entered into receivership and is selling off its assets, according to documents filed this summer in King County.