The new TimeSquare 20 catamaran with Cruise 10.0 is designed for a relaxing escape on the water.
Form follows function
The most important modernist principle states: “Form follows function”. It’s a phrase often heard and debated by designers for over a century. However, this simple yet ingenious concept may still be applied to great effect in electromobility on water. “My guess would be that 80-90% of all e-boots currently on the market are conventional motorboats that were retrospectively electrified,” says Florian Helmberger, Head of Sales and Marketing at the Austrian shipyard Frauscher. But what happens when electric boat designers courageously decide to revolutionize the nautical world?
TimeSquare 20
The final result of this approach is the latest Frauscher model: TimeSquare 20, is an elegant catamaran 8.30 meters long and 2.50 meters wide offering 20 square meters of space designed down to the smallest detail for maximum relaxation. The boat is powered by two Torqeedo Cruise 10.0 engines which are cleverly integrated into the double hull design. Incidentally, this is the first double hull boat in Frauscher ‘s almost 100 -year history and it certainly cannot be said that its shape was a coincidence. “To begin with, we asked ourselves what the most efficient hull shape was,” says Harry Miesbauer, Naval Architect at Frauscher. “In consultation with our experts it quickly became clear that nothing could be more efficient than a catamaran in view of the intended size and speed of the boat.” Why? The double hull design reduces wetted surface area, which in turn reduces frictional drag. As a result, the power delivered by the two Torqeedo Cruise engines is able to quickly and silently accelerate the boat to a maximum speed of 26 km/h. When traveling at a more moderate speed of 10km/h, the TimeSquare 20 has an impressive range of 110km when equipped with four Power 48-5000 batteries. The electric catamaran has a similar top speed and range to the significantly more powerful Frauscher 740 Mirage Air, but with lower energy consumption.
“Nowadays, it is easy to pack an extra 50 horsepower into a combustion-engine boat to offset any disadvantage in weight terms,” Miesbauer points out.”And most customers won’t even notice the resulting increase in fuel consumption.In an electric propelled boat it is not so simple because to increase the propulsive power it is necessary to install larger batteries, which in turn increase the weight and space required. “And that is why optimization, really squeezing out the last few tenths of speed and efficiency, is much more important in an electric-powered boat,” says Miesbauer . Efficiency is part of the function and consequently the design should fully reflect this.
Generous spaces to enjoy beautiful days on the water
But it’s not just performance that has influenced the design of the TimeSquare 20. “We took a very careful look at our e-boat customers’ usage behavior,” says Florian Helmberger. What they learned is that these boats are mainly used as private bathing islands. “That’s why it’s so important to have living space,” Florian explains. The TimeSquare 20 offers just that, and the available space is cleverly divided into different zones: a forward section with large, luxurious sunbeds for passengers to relax on, and a rear section with additional seating and a table around which guests can sit comfortably. TimeSquare 20 is further confirmation, if any were needed, that it’s the attention to detail, intelligent solutions and clear lines that make the projects of the Frauscher shipyard so special. A high-end audio system, an integrated refrigerator and an awning for the hottest hours, perfectly complete the equipment of the TimeSquare 20: all the comforts for a relaxing summer day on the water. Nothing is left to chance: everything is studied down to the smallest detail. Suffice it to say that it’s precisely the double hull design of the catamaran that makes such a spacious platform possible.
Tested on water for an entire summer
Frauscher invested a lot of time, money and effort into developing the TimeSquare 20. The project took four years, almost twice as long as other boats. Thomas Gerzer, Head of Development at Frauscher, and his team purpose-built a prototype which was then tested on water for a whole summer. This allowed for the appropriate improvements and modifications to be made to the project. “Normally we don’t do that but because this hull shape was new to us, we wanted to test it very thoroughly,” explains Gerzer. The Torqeedo team has been an active partner in the project from the beginning. “Since we were in on the project from the concept phase onwards, the TimeSquare 20 is one of the first series-production boats to be equipped with the new TorqLink system,” says Phillip Goethe, Project Sales Director at Torqeedo. The benefit for the customer is “a system from the charger to the throttle that comes from a single source and is thus extremely user-friendly”.
An unconventional boat
The TimeSquare 20 is far from a risk-free design for Frauscher . “We have long-standing customers who were critical of this design in the first moment,” reveals Florian Helmberger. But at the same time the TimeSquare 20 aroused a lot of curiosity. “I cannot remember a product launch that has generated so much interest,” adds Helmberger “We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of enquiries.” He believes there are two reasons for this: “A few years back, the market for e-boats was still very limited. They were mostly relevant for customers because combustion engines were banned on their lake or were otherwise restricted.” But we are in a phase of change. “We’re suddenly getting enquiries for e-boats from America, Italy or Switzerland, countries where you’re normally allowed to use a combustion engine,” Helmberger says. Helmberger himself underlines the importance of the TimeSquare 20 unique design, conceived as an electric boat from the beginning: designing a boat that would not have been possible with an internal combustion engine is the real innovation. “What the TimeSquare says to you from far off is ‘I’m not a conventional boat, I’m something special,” underlines Helmberger. And Phillip Goethe from Torqeedo agrees wholeheartedly: “The TimeSquare is purpose-built for electric power – that’s what makes it so interesting.”