The EVO is a 7.5 metre boat that will cruise at twenty knots using just seven litres of petrol per hour and can be towed by a Ford Focus.
Could this be the boat of the future? Simon Everett finds out.

The last 20 years has seen a massive change in attitude across the power boating industry. As recent as the 1980s, the majority of leisure motorboats had displacement or semi-displacement hulls, and an operating speed of between eight and 12 knots with relatively low horsepower and frugal fuel consumption. Then we got seduced by the prospect of speed. Overnight we adopted the benefits of deep vee hulls and the availability of affordable, high power engines. Suddenly, everyone wanted to go fast because they could, and of course we still do - but the reality is that using big engines to go fast is no longer an affordable option for many people. That is where the incredible efficiency of the EVO 750 comes into its own.

First impressions

The initial impression of the EVO 750 is of something reminiscent of the early 1900s with a high length to beam ratio. Think of the dreadnoughts of the First World War, the slipper launches on the Thames, the high speed launches and the very early motor racing boats, they all followed a similar principle because the early boat designers were limited in what they had to work with. Boat building materials were restricted to wood, skin on frame, steel or cast iron. Similarly the engines they had at their disposal were heavy and low powered, so really, the only thing they had to work with was hull design. They had to come up with highly efficient hulls that required little power to propel them. I believe that the high cost of fuel is now making people look again at their boating with a vast number of boaters examining ways of deducing the size of their fuel bill.

The designer of the EVO 750, Thomas Wiberg, has done the same. Evidentially he has looked at the traditional hull shapes that created the least drag, moved the least water and so enabled the boat to be propelled at greater speed for less horsepower. Applying these principles to his modern design, a hull has been developed that affords benefits off the water as well as on.

The EVO 750 is built from sophisticated resin technology that provides for an all up towing weight of just one tonne, including the trailer. That means, not only does the EVO return enviable cruising fuel consumption figures, but the transportation costs are reduced because an ordinary car can be used to tow her. When one takes these things into account, the cost of boating is returned to the real world, not just that of financiers with over inflated bonuses.

On the water

So, what are these secret ingredients that have conspired to create such an easy moving boat? Well, first off there is the small matter of her length in relation to her relatively narrow, 2.1m beam. Then there is the slightly concave running pad, which is vented from the keel transom to reduce the wetted surface even further, and to provide ‘thin’ water for the hull to run on, without causing the propeller to run in aerated water. The boat runs a mild vee aft of 16 degrees, sufficient to give a soft ride and allow the boat to heel inward in turns without requiring much power to come up on the plane. The forward section of the hull is sharp but not raked, instead the chines are carried forward and raked to give the necessary lift in a trough from a following sea and reduce the tendency for the bow to steer.

For the full test of the EVO 750, pick up a copy of the September issue of Sports Boat and RIB magazine. In shops from 22 August.