{"id":2834,"date":"2015-03-25T17:47:29","date_gmt":"2015-03-25T15:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?p=2834"},"modified":"2025-06-12T10:36:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T08:36:22","slug":"morris-yachts-48-gt-electrical-innovationsystems-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2015\/03\/25\/morris-yachts-48-gt-electrical-innovationsystems-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Morris Yachts 48 GT: Electrical Innovation\/Systems Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victron Energy systems are at the heart of this stunning yacht pictured above. She is a hand crafted, built to order, Morris Yachts Ocean Series 48GT and we’re delighted that SAIL Magazine awarded her the 2015 Best Boat award, for her innovative electrical system design.<\/p>\n

The 48 GT is an evolved Chuck Paine design<\/a>, finessed by Morris Yachts. In fact my own (small) yacht is a Chuck Paine design too (based on the Frances 26) and is in part where it all started. Subsequently and for more than 40 years, Morris Yachts have continued to build sailboats by hand, one at a time, using Maine\u2019s finest craftsmen. Started by Tom Morris, and now continued by his son Cuyler, the family\u2019s boatbuilding tradition upholds the same values now as it did then: “Every boat should be stunning, deliver supreme performance, and be crafted with the type of quality, precision, and attention to detail that will turn heads wherever she goes.”<\/p>\n

\"Interior<\/div><\/a><\/p>\n

Hopefully the photograph above conveys that ethos, but as we go below the hood as it were – What furthermore makes her so special, in terms of her award winning electrical systems?<\/em><\/p>\n

The DC or Hybrid concept<\/strong><\/p>\n

Victron Energy was founded in 1975 by Reinout Vader and like Morris Yachts a son (Matthijs) continues the family business. If we were to include C. W. Paine Yacht Design Inc, these three businesses have a combined experience of over 120 years. It’s that experience and pedigree that leads to innovation, ever improving and award winning design.<\/p>\n

In 2011 Reinout Vader wrote a small book called Energy Unlimited: Electricity on Board (And other off-grid applications). In this book (which is still available as a free download<\/a>) Reinout details the benefits of the DC or Hybrid concept, which Morris use to good effect on their 48 GT.<\/p>\n

Here in Morris Yachts own words is a simple explanation of what in their view makes the DC concept so good. “You won\u2019t need to worry about \u201ccharging your batteries\u201d anymore. It\u2019s all automatic. And the batteries charge faster than conventional batteries so you won\u2019t have to listen to your generator run in that peaceful anchorage any longer than necessary.<\/p>\n

We came up with this outside the box solution by working directly with the owner as well as Victron Energy<\/a> and Fischer Panda<\/a> to design an electrical system that, unlike most conventional cruising boat systems, is 100% DC based. This means the boat has an extremely powerful battery bank and charge sources that use inverted DC power to run all AC loads on board.<\/p>\n

This elegant system incorporates a light yet durable 600 amp hour lithium battery bank, two 3,000 watt inverters, and multiple charge sources that are able to run all AC loads from the batteries.<\/p>\n

In order to keep the heart of this system charged\u2014the lithium batteries\u2014we installed a 5,000 watt Fischer Panda DC generator as the primary charge source. That means this generator doesn\u2019t produce power to run the AC loads in the boat. It\u2019s sole job is to charge the batteries that offer up to 275 amps of charge. The shore power does not directly run any AC equipment beyond battery chargers.<\/p>\n

A DC generator is much more efficient than a standard AC generator because it only runs when charge is needed, not whenever AC electrical loads are running. It\u2019s also designed to start and stop automatically when the system senses charge is needed. There is no need for the owner to worry about when to start and stop the generator.<\/p>\n

The main engine has a 160 amp high output alternator that will charge when the boat is motoring. The charge sources are rounded out with 3 shore power battery chargers available when the boat is plugged in at the dock. Each charger offers 100 amps of charge that can all be run at once if need be.”<\/p>\n

Additional benefits of the DC concept<\/strong><\/p>\n