World's Fastest Electric Boat: Vision Marine Hits 109MPH Smashing Record at Ozarks Shootout
In the deep booming voice of Captain Electro: "Some say, in the age of growing climate concerns, motorboating is dead. Some say we need to give up our love of speed, power, and the thrill of wide-open throttle. Vision Marine Technologies said, 'Oh, hell no!' And then, they built a boat. An electric boat. That goes over 100 MPH."
On August 28th, 2022, at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout, the biggest, loudest, most outrageous gathering of marine muscle in the world, a heretofore unheard-of thing happened. Shaun Torrente, two times F1 H20 World Champion, perched himself in the cockpits of Vision Marine's latest creation, the V32, a fully electric speedboat, and hit a top speed of... wait for it... 109 MPH!
"I know what you're thinking," I can almost hear you say, "Electric? Surely that must be as exciting as watching paint dry on a particularly humid day." But, ladies and gentlemen, it was anything but. This was not some boring little dinghy that would be better used for swatting flies, this was a bona fide, record-shattering powerboat. 109 MPH, in an electric boat. That's faster than a cheetah riding on a particularly fast ostrich.
The V32 was a joint effort of Vision Marine and Torrente’s STR. They shoehorned a twin application of Vision Marine’s proprietary E-Motion™ electric outboard motor and powertrain system into a 32′ catamaran, a wide-body vessel not unlike something Batman would drive if he were a billionaire playboy with a penchant for marine toys... Wait a minute.
More than 100,000 on-lookers gathered, both on land and water, staring with their jaws practically scraping the bottom of the lake as the speedboat thundered past, smashing the old record set by Jaguar's Vector Boat. Yes, that's right, it wasn't just a record, it was a record held by Jaguar. An electric cat outrunning another cat, if you will.
Over a mere three years, the boating folks at Vision Marine have taken their boat's top speed from a sedate 31 MPH in 2019 to a spirited 49 MPH in 2021, to a mind-bending, physics-defying 109 MPH in 2022. If this pace continues, I won't be surprised if in 2025 we see them break the sound barrier. Now that's what I call progress!
And the best part? Vision Marine is not content with their record-breaking speed. No, they are openly challenging any Original Equipment Manufacturer to a race. The equivalent of smacking their gloves on the table and shouting, "I challenge you to a duel!" It's a delightfully old-fashioned sentiment, wrapped up in the most modern of technologies.
The V32 is more than just a boat, it's a statement. A statement that power and environmental consciousness are not mutually exclusive. That going fast can also mean going green. That electric is not just the future, but the present.
