M.9 (M.10’s Prototype)

A 100% Electric Powercat

The new Millikan Boats brand presented a generator-free powercat at last fall’s boat shows. This prototype, named the “M.9,” that we were able to test in Cannes, served as the basis for designing the “production” version, the M.10.

The M.9, here being tested with a 10 m² (108 sq ft) LibertyKite sail, is one of the very first multihulls to be completely fossil fuel-free.

“Slow sailing” doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, as you can see here with this towable surfboard.

Once the wings are deployed, the solar panels can produce around 5 kWp...

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Practical info

Boat Test price5.00€ Inc. tax

Purchase

Boat Test price5.00€ Inc. tax

Purchase

Test location: Cannes
Conditions: Calm, residual chop

The M.9 we discovered in Port Canto is definitely not your average boat. It is an open bowrider catamaran with a central walkway and a hardtop that covers the entire deck—and beyond, since wings can be unfolded well past the midships beam to carry as many solar panels as possible (on both sides!). That’s what it takes for this small prototype multihull to manage without any internal combustion assistance.

The initial concept for the M.9 was devised in 2015 by Bruno Causse, who created a first 7-meter (23-foot), 100% electric beach catamaran. Unable to find investors to support commercial development, the inventor passed the baton to Philippe Raynaud. The project became a 9.70-meter (31’10”) weekender designed by Vincent Lebailly. The Millikan brand was launched - a Tesla- style tribute to Robert Andrew Millikan, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1923 for his work on the elementary charge of electricity and the photoelectric effect. The M.9 we are interested in is built by Chantier Naval La Passagère in Saint-Malo, Brittany.