The Electrification of Watersport Boats

A 3 Part Series by Bill McCaffray

Part 1 – Arc Sport Official Release
I grew up in boats, starting with our family’s 15 ft Bayliner Mosquito with a 55 Evinrude outboard in the 1980’s, since then I have been on and behind just about every watersport and wake boat on the market today. Every minute of that time has been amazing, making many of my best memories and best friends doing stupid fun things in and behind these boats. I managed to put in enough time behind a ski boat that I had the opportunity to travel the world promoting wakeboarding for a number of years in the 1990’s. Since then, my time has been spent writing, filming and generally documenting watersports, specifically wakeboarding. I felt I needed to qualify myself to legitimately field the following observations and I think everyone that likes or builds watersports boats should listen.

Recently I have been fixated on the concept of the electrification of watersports boats. In pursuit of that interest, I managed to have the opportunity to go out and experience both the Arc Sport and the EVOA Supra SA 550E. The experience you ask? Without a question, the best boating experience I have had in a watersport boat in the last 20 years.

The Arc Sport
What We Say
Reading through their release a few key statements stuck out to me. Official release below and HERE.

Releasing Renders Is Easy. Amen to that. There are a ton of renderings out there of electric and hybrid watersports boats about to hit the market. Largely that is all marketing smoke and mirrors. Literally, only a handful of these boats actually exist on the water today.

That makes the fact that the Arc Sport is the second model from Arc to actually make it to the water pretty impressive. Arc is a brand co-founded by a lead engineer at Space-X, so that seems like a pretty good start as well. They are also really well-funded and are building boats and a culture just up the road from Alliance in Los Angeles. LA is an odd place to build boats though, but when I asked that specific question the response was well fielded, “The talent pool is so deep in LA that we can move very quickly.” Well, if the first engineer hired to boats on the water in 16 months is an indication of pace, then LA it is.

Modernizing an Industry is a bold statement in a class of brands that have been around for 50+ years and take themselves and their innovations very seriously. But, that hubris among the watersports elite may come with an obvious Achilles’ heel and a wakeup call could be coming, served up by Arc and a set of brands that went all in on electric. We will see how that plays out in the next 24 months. For today, pay attention to this sector and specifically to ARC.

The key question in this sector has always been range: How long can you go out and enjoy your electric watersports boat and does that range limit your experience? To date the range limitations of the electric boats has narrowed the use case to a few hours, or that the ideal use case is for owners that have a dock with an electrical outlet. This is still the key question and until one of these boats is put in our hands for a full day, we can’t weigh in just yet. That being said, the Arc team took their boat all the way to Catalina Island from Long Beach, spent the night, went wakesurfing around the island and came back to Long Beach on one charge. With 226 kWh the Arc has as much range as anything we have seen on the water so far.

Simplifying Boating is something that in my opinion has been needed since every manufacturer began to infuse technology into their watersports boats. As much as it can improve the experience on the water, it can just a well confound it, as many boat owners know. This is, what I think is the best feature of electric boats and what Arc has accomplished. Technology is the lead factor with a focus on the user and intuitive use of technology. Yet to be seen if everyone can hop in and drive this spaceship but Arc is offering you the opportunity to try.

If you get chance to go for a ride in one of these boats, do it. It will change your perspective on boating. If you own or would like to own a wakeboarding boat, I highly recommend that you take them up on the opportunity to check this thing out.

Sign up for a demo – https://Arcboats.com/demo

SPECS
Arc Sport specifications

  • Power: 500hp
  • Length: 23 feet
  • Battery capacity: 226 kWh
  • Human capacity: 15 people
  • Price: $258,000
  • Availability: The Arc Sport is on sale now. Deliveries beginning this year.

PROS

  • Silence
  • No Fumes
  • Good wake
  • Tons of power
  • The retracting hard top is trick
  • No stops or expense for gas
  • As tech as it possibly could be
  • Competitively priced

CONS

  • Interior was only OK, but changes are planned
  • Engineers are not necessarily boaters

Website: Arcboats.com
Instagram: @Arcboats
Twitter: @ArcBoats

What They Say:
Releasing renders of promising products is easy. Bringing those products to life is incredibly hard. Today, we’re proud to announce that the Arc Sport has hit the water for a nationwide demo tour.

We staffed the first engineer on the Arc Sport in January 2023. 16 months later, we have multiple boats on the water conducting testing, qualification, and — beginning today — demos! That speed stems from our team’s clear vision, deep expertise, and intense commitment. In a world of promise and flashy visuals, our focus remains on delivering the many benefits of electric boats to customers.

Arc Sport

Modernizing An Industry
The Arc Sport represents the future of recreational boating. In what has historically been a noisy, noxious, low-tech industry, the Arc Sport delivers a quiet, fumeless, and modern ride.

The auto-retracting hardtop tower is a first of its kind for wake boats, made possible by some of the brightest minds spanning aerospace, automotive, and marine engineering. The surf system was designed and rigorously tested by literal rocket engineers — experts at making highly performant vessels that operate in demanding conditions.

The integrated 226 kWh battery pack adds more than 2,500 lbs to the computer-controlled ballast system. Fully ballasted at 9,000 lbs, the Arc Sport throws a customizable wave that will thrill advanced riders while adapting to first-time riders. And with double the torque of premium gas boats, the Arc Sport delivers thrilling EV performance off the line.

The Arc Sport is as much a feat of software as it is of hardware though, and we’re excited to modernize the marine industry with it. The in-house software is closer to that of premium electric cars than of anything you’d find on the water today. 

Two driver displays give riders precise control over every aspect of their session. With saveable rider profiles, three high-res cameras, and a premium sound system from JL Audio, the Arc Sport provides everything you’d hope for in a wake boat — and more.

The Arc Sport also features a sophisticated over-the-air (OTA) update system unlike anything that exists in the marine industry today. Rather than degrading over time, the Arc Sport can receive updates spanning every aspect of the boating experience, from raw performance, to driver functionality, to new entertainment experiences.

Simplifying Boating
From the start, the Arc Sport was designed to simplify the experience of owning and operating a boat. Bow and stern thrusters make maneuvering through tight marina spaces and docking a breeze. The electric powertrain dramatically reduces the maintenance and winterization burden of gas boats. And the simplicity of charging eliminates the headache of lugging gas cans to the dock and expensive refueling.

The Arc Sport is a boat that makes it easy for everyone to be the captain of their own adventure. It represents an evolution for the marine industry and a huge leap forward on our mission to electrify all watercraft.

Want to experience the future of (wake) boating? Our summer tour kicks off in Austin, Texas today. Sign up for a demo and reserve the Arc Sport now. Deliveries begin this year!