Canadian Solar Boat moves to the U.S.A.

Electric boat designer and builder Monty Gisborne, who was planning to build his solar pontoon boat Loon in Ontario, is moving south to Buffalo, N.Y., lured by a $500,000 grant. When Gisborne cruised the Loon on the Rideau Canal in 2006, he barely attracted any attention. But, in 2007, he took the Loon through the Erie Canal in New York State and was swamped with media coverage - and an offer of funding. He plans to hire 60 people to build 50 Loons per year. Before he leaves Canada, he will build the biggest solar boat in North America, the Osprey, for the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority.
In 1997, a report created with the participation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, estimated that pleasure craft expel unburned fuel into waterways every year that is the equivalent of 15 Exxon Valdez super tanker spills.

Dec-08: "Orillia Packet" | Mar-07: Solar "Loon" goes Cruising | TamarackElectricboats.com

Solar "Loon" goes Cruising

The Loon (2005), the world's first commercially available solar-powered recreational boat, developed Monte Gisborne, is finally going mainstream. With two new partners, the Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Co. is building a redesigned Loon and a larger houseboat in a new manufacturing facility near Kirkfield Ontario. The first 6.7 metre (22 ft.) Loon should be ready by summer. The company is also looking at tourism and ferry boat markets in several countries.

In 2005, the Gisbornes took a solar-powered family boating vacation on the Trent Severn Waterway "without burning a single drop of oil." Travelling 40 kilometres each day, they used 50 cents worth of electricity, easily supplied by the sun. (A similar trip by cruiser could cost hundreds of dollars.) In 2006, the Loon made a similar cruise on the Rideau Waterway. The Loon's six solar panels produce 720 watts of power, 800 watts with a supercharger and carries eight, six-volt batteries. The batteries are charged from the sun or by "plug-ins".
Gisborne's first electric car, the ElectriFly, has competed at the American Tour de Sol five times, winning once. (theStar.com | Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Co.)