From internal combustion to electric...

Astréa 42 Smart Electric: “ First in the range ”

The contrast between the atmosphere at the La Rochelle Boat Show - between the hustle and bustle of the crowds on sunny days and announcements on the public address system - and the virtual silence found less than 15 boatlengths from our booth is striking... It’s exactly the sort of observation that makes Mathieu Fountaine, the yard’s deputy director, smile from ear to ear. With a simple press of his fingers, he pushes a little more on the levers to accelerate a little more. You can feel a few slight vibrations in the hulls - but you really have to pay attention. Nothing to do with the pervasive purr of a pair of 30 or 50 HP internal combustion engines (these are the power ratings of the diesel motors offered by the manufacturer).
After the Aura 51 Smart Electric, presented in 2022, the Astréa 42 joins the forever green fleet, accompanied by the Elba 45. Some will be surprised not to find the Tanna 47 among them: this model proved to be incompatible with ‘electrification’ after the fact, because there was insufficient space forward to accommodate a powerful generator - and yes, for the time being, we can’t do without this safety feature. In any case, we can see that it’s not necessarily that simple to offer a mass-produced electric catamaran when it wasn’t envisaged at the time of the boat’s initial design.

A configuration close to that of the Aura 51

EIn technical terms, the yard has basically picked up on the same installation as the Aura 51, using the same engine power (2 x 25 kW). For Fountaine Pajot, this is already the second generation with underwater pods. For the lithium-iron-phosphate propulsion batteries, you can opt for 2 x 21 or 27 kWh. We have the first option. On the coachroof, we can rely on 1.2 kWp of solar panels. As for the generator supplied, it can produce 16 kW (compared with 9 kW on board the standard Astréa 42). This generator has two functions: to charge the propulsion batteries and to power the motors. For charging, the generator is automatically controlled: it starts when the propulsion batteries fall below 20% charge and then stops when the batteries are fully charged. The generator can be started manually if required. It will also start when the propulsion system is switched to hybrid mode and supply power to the motors, with any excess energy being used to ...