WWW.PMYMAG.COM JUNE 2017 / POWER & MOTORYACHT 69
the cold stowage is surely a worthwhile trade-
off —and no need for cockpit refrigeration, it’s
right there inside the door.
Th e aft glass bulkhead has a mirror fi nish
on the outside, with a sliding door in the mid-
dle. To port the window fl ips up and latches
to the cockpit overhead, and then a small
backsplash on the galley’s aft counter folds
down to extend the counter into the cockpit.
It’s a cool eff ect as this counter will become a
hub for serving guests, inside and out. It’s in
the cockpit that I noticed the house on this
boat is cheated to port, creating more interior
space while allowing the starboard side deck
to off er wide and easy passage to the foredeck,
where there’s a sunpad atop the cabin trunk,
or to that helm-side window/door.
Th e transom can fold down, controlled
with a powered remote, to create a twofold ef-
fect: Th e transom becomes a swim platform,
and, second, it makes the cockpit wide open
and more roomy—better to allow more room
for guests to spread out, enjoy the air, and use
the port-side settee. All of this is contingent
on a calmish day at anchor of course. Th e
transom retracts with a motorized system
that winches a nylon line. It’s a solution that is
not unnecessarily complicated or requires too
much energy. I like that.
Speaking of power, there’s another benefi t of
hybrid systems and solar panels: Th is compa-
ny thinks about electricity in ways that other
companies don’t. “We make it possibile to use
110-volt power on board permanently,” says
Vladimir Zinchenko, CEO of SVP Yachts.
“We try to bring boating closer to the home
environment, and so we off er home applianc-
es like the regular fridge and freezer, air con-
ditioning, electric induction cooking, and so
on. Just bring any appliance you want on the
boat and plug it in, without any need even to
fl ip a switch.” Zinchenko was referring mostly
to the company’s hybrid boats, with their slick
touchscreen battery management system run-
ning an array of Lithium-polymer batteries.
Th e non-hybrid 36 uses massive AGM batter-
ies to mimic the experience. Th e solar panels
on the hardtop power the fridge, and the bat-
tery system can provide three to four hours of
air-conditioning, according to Rhodes.
But you can’t go this far and not fi nd out
about that hybrid system, so Rhodes also
took me out on a Greenline 40, a legacy
model from the company. Switching to the
10-kilowatt electric drive (that’s 15 horse-
power) in the channel off Harbour Towne
Marina in Dania Beach, Florida, the silence
overtakes you and fi lls the boat. No sound.
No vibration. No emissions. It’s almost eerie,
to be frank, until you push the throttle a bit
and touch the wheel and realize you’re under
power. It’s nothing short of a gamechanger,
where wind noise and water fl owing past the
hull are the loudest noises you hear.
Hybrid technology is a great idea and seem-
ingly getting better all the time. Th e challenge,
in a nutshell, is that automotive hybrids derive
charging gains from braking, an eff ect that
does not exist in boats. Greenline Hybrid and
others persist in trying to break the code ofRPM Knots GPH Range dB(A)
1000 4.5 0.5 1,499 54
1500 6.5 1.8 601 60
1800 7.8 2.9 448 62
2000 8.7 3.9 371 67
2500 11.8 7.5 262 68
3000 16.7 11.0 253 74
3500 21.0 15.7 223 77
3800 23.6 19.5 202 78TEST CONDITIONS: Air temperature: 80°F;
humidity: 65%; seas: 2'; load: 125 gal. fuel,
53 gal. water, four persons. Speeds are
two-way averages measured with Rayma-
rine GPS. GPH taken via Yanmar engine-
monitoring system. Range is based on 90%
of advertised fuel capacity. Sound levels
measured at the helm. 65 dB(A) is the level
of normal conversation.this system because of its ace in the hole: truly
silent running. I’ve sea-trialed electric-drive
boats before and I think I would use the sys-
tem regularly. And I’m curious how the tech-
nology would change how I would use a boat.
Adopting technology and adapting to it
can change everything, so long as we let the
technology handle the complex side of the
equation, and we bring along the free will.
No need to keep that quiet. UGreenline Hybrid, 954-381-1783;
greenlinehybridusa.comOther than raised helm and dining areas, the main deck is one level from the companionway, through
the galley (left), and into the cockpit: great for a running start for cannonballs off the swim platform.