RS Pulse 63 Electric RIB

Jake Frith ponders whether a 23 knot RIB could change the world

- Jake Frith

When RS Sailing, the world's largest manufacturer of sailing dinghies, announced it would be building a planing electric RIB a few years ago, some 'expressions of surprise' were heard from the marine industry.

RS changed the sailing world with its high-performance dinghies which took the principle and the fun of the planning skiff concept into a much larger market than it had ever been before, but an electric RIB was surely too far outside their areas of expertise - wasn't it?

Established motorboat manufacturers were - and still are struggling with the energy transition, as designing a boat that is quick to charge, has a usable range, but also has enough grunt when needed to get planing with its heavy batteries is a mind-bendingly big ask. Packaging it in a form customers would want and at a price they could bear is every bit as challenging.

Indeed, several large, and ostensibly technologically advanced brands in motorboating have thrown up their hands, and (usually privately) announced that the technology, particularly battery technology, is not yet mature enough to make the maths work and therefore it's too early for them to go electric.

Rather than making excuses and bleating about how much better batteries will be in 10 years' time, RS got to work on the areas that could be improved to make it work. They had to get to work fast too. World Sailing set an ambitious target that all countries' coaching and support boats would need to be zero-emission by the Paris Olympics in 2024. I guess this provided the initial heads-up for RS who have close dealings with the world governing body concerning high-performance dinghies, but the market for Olympic support boats alone is not big enough to warrant substantial investment.