Ingenity to provide electric drives for iconic Hacker-Craft brand
Ingenity Electric, which currently builds two electric boats under the umbrella of parent company Correct Craft, has signed a multi-year agreement to provide and install all-electric drivetrains in new Hacker-Craft Boats.
This is an exciting collaboration of historic brands and 21st century innovation. Hacker Craft was founded in 1908, Correct Craft in 1925, and the Ingenity brand launched its first e-boat in 2020 –the Air Nautique GS22E.
John L. Hacker (1877-1961), was the preeminent naval architect of mahogany pleasure crafts of the 20th century, whose designs included some of the greatest mahogany boats ever built. In the 1930’s the company’s celebrated boats, with names like Thunderbird, El Lagarto, Kitty Hawk and more, were renowned as ‘The Steinway of Runabouts’ and have exhilarated Gold Cup racers, celebrities, royalty and captains of industry around the world.
Those boats still turn heads wherever they go, and Hacker Boats is still the largest American manufacturer of classic mahogany motorboats, hand-built runabouts, sport boats, yacht tenders, launches and utilities.
The first Ingenity powered Hacker-Craft, a 27ft Special Sport, will be introduced at the 2022 Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show (FLIBS), October 26-30, at the Hacker-Craft booth, #1008, at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center. The boat will be powered by Ingenity’s integrated drive package with 126kWh of battery capacity and will have remote connectivity via the Osmosis telematics platform. The system can recharge overnight at a residential dock or as quickly as 1.5 hours at a high-capacity DC Fast Charger at a marina or on a superyacht.
The 27ft Sport will complement the current Ingenity powered lineup, which includes the Nautique GS22E watersports towboat and the Ingenity 23E Dayboat, which won the 2021 Boat of The Year from Boat magazine in January.
“I have admired Hacker-Craft’s products from afar for many years, and the Ingenity team is humbled to be part of this project,” said Sean Marrero, President of Ingenity. “We stand on the shoulders of the giants who started these companies a century ago. Now it is our turn to lay the foundation for an exciting future for our companies and customers.”
“It’s clear the environmental concerns are driving the entire boating industry towards electric propulsion.” Said George Badcock, CEO of Hacker Boat Company. “Electric propulsion enables owners to go boating in accordance with their values while preparing them for the new electric reality, whether for lake boating, coastal cruising, or aboard superyachts. “We’ve already seen an increasing number of inquiries about electric and hybrid propulsion. The partnership between Hacker Boat Company and ingenuity Electric has come together at the perfect moment.”
For lovers of classic boats who also want to be good to the environment, the concept of merging iconic designs with the latest electric propulsion is a welcome trend. Just two weeks ago, across the Atlantic, Riva launched an electric version of their own iconic Italian runabout – the Iseo – at the Monaco Yacht Show. Keep them coming!!
Ingenity 23E Super Air Nautique GS22E
