OSSA POWERLITE^{®
Diesel-Electric Marine Propulsion Systems and Accessories}
 

Project Description:

The Leopard 43' is built exclusively for The Moorings by South Africa's largest boat builder - Roberson & Caine.  This project (dubbed "eLeopard" by the Moorings) is the first step to fulfilling The Moorings long-sought goal of implementing more environmentally friendly propulsion technology throughout their vast charter fleet.  Since The Moorings is the world's leading charter company, the technology also needed to be exceptionally reliable,  very user-friendly and make good economic sense.  Although other companies had promoted various partial electric yacht concepts to them, OSSA Powerlite was the first to be able to provide what The Moorings and Robertson & Caine required - a complete "total solution" package.

As a technology demonstration vessel, the eLeopard 43' will have high visibility as well as high hopes within the vast Moorings fleet.  First challenge is the 40 day motor-sailing trip across the open ocean from South Africa to the Miami boat show.  With a late departure (December 25), the crew is pressed for time.  However, given favorable weather, there is a good chance that they can make it in time for the show.  Whatever their arrival time, the trip will be putting the boat through its first durability test and one of the primary prerequisites for broader implementation.  Once at the show, prospective customers will have the chance to thoroughly investigate the boat and provide their feedback to the marketing and sales groups.  Following the show, the eLeopard will enter charter service for the third and perhaps toughest test of all - user-friendliness.  The successful completion of the trail period will see the rapid expansion of OSSA Powerlite within the Moorings fleet in 2006. 

The combination of components chosen for the eLeopard 43' reflect its intended function as a corporate technology test platform and charter vessel.  The standard Leopard 43' comes equipped with two 30hp Yanmar saildrives (60 hp total).  On the eLeopard  these were replaced by two 35hp propulsion motors and one 25kw generator.  As single 25kw generator outputs 33 horsepower (746 watts = 1 horsepower) so it is apparent that the motors have been oversized.  This reflects a desire to equip the boat with a single generator while maintaining the possibility to add (and fully utilize) a second if the wish arose at some point during the test.  With a single generator, each motor is capable of producing 16 horsepower or just over 1/2 that of the conventional Yanmar diesels.  Preliminary testing prior to leaving South Africa saw the eLeopard reach 8.2 knots under power.  Maximum speed with the two Yanmar diesels is 7.5 knots.

Adding non-dockside air conditioning to a standard Leopard 43' requires the addition of a generator (for a total of three engines).  Even at dockside, the functionality of any air conditioner is limited due to the different voltages and frequencies found through the Caribbean.   The eLeopard gets around both of these problems in two ways.  First, when away from the dock,  it uses the existing 25kw OSSA Powerlite generator to power its two 20,000 btu/hr Micro Air air conditioners.  At dockside, the varying voltages and different frequencies are not a problem for the DC powered Micro Air.  Shore power plugs are provided for both 110v and 230v.  The incoming power is converted to DC and distributed through the OSSA Powerlite Power Distribution System to the air conditioners and battery chargers for the 12v house bank.

The conventional 12v house battery bank provides power to the low-voltage DC loads such as the Glacier Bay Micro HPS hybrid plate refrigerator and freezer.  The minimal load of the few 115vac appliances is handled by an inverter with the battery charger acting as a power supply to prevent battery drain.  By keeping the 115vac circuit isolated and electronically supplied, power sensitive electronics (such as computers and entertainment systems) are assured of ultra-clean power regardless of shore power voltage and frequency.

Project Photos