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The first thing I noticed about Sea Ray's so-called "Green Boat" was her conventional appearance. Sure, there was something atop the bimini—a Sharp solar collector—but the gizmo was inconspicuous. And the hull sides were a perky willow green, with racy, black waterline stripes proclaiming: HYBRID. But otherwise, our test boat du jour looked like a regular ol' off-the-shelf 240 Sundancer.
The second thing I noticed vaguely hinted that this 240 featured one of the most innovative propulsion systems ever installed by a mainstream manufacturer. While the steering console had the usual Sea Ray stuff—Teleflex wheel, Quicksilver engine control, Carling Technologies toggles—there were mysterious extras as well: a Steyr Control Center LCD panel and a green button next to a black rocker under the wheel, both enigmatically unlabeled.
"This is an iffy project—even if we do decide to go to market it won't be until next year or maybe later," said Sea Ray engineering tech Doug Weyant while lifting the engine-room hatch at the rear of the cockpit. Weyant had been the principal creator of the Green Boat during the previous months, integrating into a standard production envelope various environmentally friendly technologies, chief among them the single 250-mhp Steyr MO256H45 Steyr Motors Hybrid diesel (see "Austrian Ingenuity," page 54) I was eyeballing in the engine bay. It was linked to a MerCruiser Bravo III drive and, according to Weyant, promised all-electric operation at maneuvering speeds.
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A couple of ancillaries drew my interest as well. First there was the bank of four Group 31 Odyssey 2250 AGM (pure-lead) batteries, the main electrical storage bank for our Steyr's 48-volt D.C. system. Weyant told me he'd wanted to go with lithium-ion batteries with more storage capacity but ran out of time. The Odysseys were installed in an alcove in the forward firewall and, according to Weyant, had enough capacity to not only reasonably deal with all-electric propulsion but operate the boat's 7,000-Btu air-conditioning system for approximately eight hours, thus keeping the cabin cool for sleeping overnight at anchor.
Then there was the 12-volt system, a seeming redundancy. In addition to the somewhat ponderous Austrian electricals in the engine room, there was a more conventional setup, comprised of two Group 27 Stowaway batteries charged via a traditional engine-mounted alternator. Weyant said that besides energizing lights, instruments, and other house-type equipage, the system could also crank the diesel in case the Odysseys were inadvertently drained. He added that the unlabeled green button I'd noticed on the steering console was for cranking the diesel in this fashion.
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