Navier recruits America’s Cup architect Paul Bieker for all-electric hydrofoil

Silicon Valley startup Navier has recruited Oracle Team USA’s principal design engineer for the 35th America’s Cup, Paul Bieker, as lead naval architect for its first all-electric hydrofoil performance craft, the Navier 27.

According to Navier, the Navier 27 is a 27ft foiling performance vessel that will be capable of a range exceeding 75 nautical miles under electric propulsion and includes advanced autonomy features. When it launches during the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show 2022, the company says it will be the longest-range electric boat in the world.

Navier says that with its hydrofoils, the 27 can fly over waves reaching 4ft high that would otherwise cause uncomfortable pounding and ‘is 90 per cent more efficient than a traditional 27ft boat’.

“The things that impressed me the most about Navier and their approach to the 27 project is their focus on the technology and getting a boat on the water as efficiently and quickly as possible,” comments Bieker. “It was also clear to me that their experience with innovative marine vehicles, flight control, and robotics will help ensure that the most challenging aspects of the project will get the attention that they require.”

Navier signed an exclusive agreement with Bieker Boats, the naval architecture firm founded by America’s Cup renowned naval architect and foiling expert Paul Bieker.

Navier is led by two MIT engineers, co-founders Sampriti Bhattacharyya and Reo Baird, who have an extensive knowledge in ocean robotics, aerospace flight controls, and autonomous systems. 

Navier’s aim is to build ‘technology to radically increase the efficiency of small powerboats by 90 per cent while ensuring zero emissions and a superior ride experience’.

“Our goal is to work with the best team possible and we believe Paul is the best expert in hydrofoil technology,” says co-founder and CEO Sampriti Bhattacharyya. “With Paul’s decades of real-world experience in building hydrofoiling crafts and our own expertise in control systems we are ensuring that Navier 27 is the best performance electric craft built till date.”

“If we execute the Navier 27 concept to its full potential we will have created a boat that combines high efficiency with comfortable general-purpose accommodations, and a foil arrangement that can handle rougher sea states than any small recreational hydrofoil craft built to date,” says Bieker.

Seattle-based Bieker is a design expert in hydrofoils and carbon-fibre structures with extensive experience in performance engineering for some of the fastest monohulls and multihulls in the world. Paul worked with Oracle Team USA as a designer since 2003 and was asked to be OTUSA’s principal design engineer for the 35th America’s Cup in 2017.