SILENT RUNNING

HODGDON DEBUTS TWO ELECTRIC TENDERS

Hodg don Tenders ’10.5- and 12-meter electric Venetian tenders have the same hulls as the builder’s dieselpowered versions, but they produce zero emissions, less noise and less vibration. ¶ The electric versions use Vita Power’s high-performance powertrains, which run dual-propeller stern drives. The smaller tender has a single electric motor and three lithium-ion batteries; the larger tender has dual motors and four batteries. Range for each tender is 20 to 50 nautical miles, depending on rpm and sea state. ¶ These tenders can be charged via their mothership (AC or DC power), shore power (AC) or at Vita’s dockside SuperPower stations. ¶ Audrey Hodgdon, director of sales and marketing for the builder, says creating the electric version of the tenders at the shipyard in Maine was “surprisingly easy,” given that the displacement and longitudinal center of gravity of the tenders remained unchanged.