Candela C-8 review: the Polestar 2-powered boat that flies

What's the best thing to do on a cold, windy day in the UK?

At the start of the year, we learned that Candela had built an electric boat powered by the battery from a Polestar 2. And when we were invited for a ‘flight’ on a boat powered by Polestar, we were intrigued. Because who doesn’t love being on a boat in the middle of a typical British summer?

A flight on a boat? What does that even mean?

We were wondering the same. It’s all to do with the fact that the Candela C-8 DC is an electric hydrofoil, masquerading part-time as a really slick-looking electric powerboat. At around 14 knots, it can ‘take flight’, meaning it leaves the water by up to almost a metre.

Ooh, ok, what does that achieve?

By making out like David Blaine and doing a bit of levitation, the boat can cruise on top of rougher water, rather than go through it and that makes for one extremely civilised way to travel. Less boat-like motion, fewer feelings of queasiness - it’s incredibly refined.

How does it actually do that?

The C-8 has an 8.5m carbon-fibre body and only weighs 1,750kg. That’s with seats and belts for up to eight passengers, a lounging area at the back of the thing and camping quarters below deck.

It uses the Polestar 2’s 69kWh battery to power a very sophisticated computer and the motor, which runs 100 calculations per second using forward-facing sonar sensors to measure wave height and direction. The computer adjusts the height of the foils accordingly to make sure the deck says level for passengers.

Very cool. How far can it travel?

It can do do 57 nautical miles on that battery and hit a top speed of about 30 knots. Recharging? Around 45 minutes to fully charge the battery on a DC point. There’s also a ‘limp home’ mode, and the foils won’t deploy if the battery shows signs of overheating. It didn’t all work first time round during our experience, but this was down to the lake weeds getting caught in the foils. So it turns out this isn't necessarily the best thing you can do on a cold and windy British summer day.

So what did it all feel like when it actually worked?

Getting on board, we were asked to take off our shoes. Understandably. The deck has got that whole minimalist Scandi thing going on, but it's exceptionally clean with quality upholstery – which you'd probably expect when you consider the price tag is a gulp-inducing £278,000 (€330,000).

A panel to the left of the driver's console reveals a staircase to sleeping quarters (and an optional porcelain throne – you spec it out as you see fit). It's enough to fit two regular-sized humans and a couple of kids down there. And there's a skylight for ventilation.

When the boat sets off, it's like any other boat experience on water – breezy enough to make you wish you'd worn a hairband. As the foils deploy, the vessel rises very subtly, the wake disappears, things get a whole lot quieter (and they weren't exactly noisy to begin with) and the C-8 earns its stripes.

As mentioned, it's super civilised and very refined. It's hard to articulate in a weedy lake in West Sussex, but it isn't hard to see how well the Candela would fit it in a marina in Monaco or Montego.

Electric boats… they’re becoming quite the thing now aren’t they?

Cleaner water activity isn’t a bad shout. Other boats put loads of lovely diesel into the seas and oceans when under motor - yuck. Electric power, as with electric cars, cleans that whole scene up.

And yes, there’s a few of them now: BMW’s The Icon, Maserati’s Tridente and Porsche’s Fantom Air collaboration with Frauscher. None sport the Candela hydrofoil design, but slowly we’re working our way towards a decent set for a group test. See you in the South of France?