Public invited to vote in 4th International Electric Boat Awards - The Gussies

Gustave Trouvé Awards © Plugboats

An international panel of electric boat experts has narrowed down the entries in the fourth annual Gustave Trouvé Awards for Excellence in Electric Boats and Boating - The Gussies - and the public is now invited to weigh in with their favourites by voting online at plugboats.com/vote-for-the-worlds-best-electric-boats-in-the-2023-gussies-awards .

The voting page has photographs and descriptions of each boat with links to the Finalist company's website for more information.

Over 160 boats were nominated in this year's competition, with the Judges selecting their choices in 8 of the 9 categories. All 19 boats in the Retrofitted / Customized /DIY category enter the finals as a salute to the hard work and ingenuity that goes into each of them.

In other categories the Finalist boats range from high speed runabouts to leisure cruise and pontoon boats to electric hydrofoiling ferries to hydrogen coach boats to electrified sailboats and tugboats to the world's largest battery-electric ferry (130m / 425 ft.)

There are categories for both production boats and boats 'In Development', showing off a variety of innovations.

Twenty five countries are represented, with boats from every continent except Antarctica: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, The People's Republic of China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkiye, UK, USA and Vietnam.

"What the Finalists - and indeed all of the nominated boats - demonstrate is that 'an electric boat' can now be any kind of boat that just happens to be powered by batteries and/or hydrogen instead of by burning fossil fuel." said Jeff Butler, Editor/Publisher of Plugboats.com, the online journal of electric boating that launched The Gussies in 2020.

"The 'In Production' categories of the Gussies are filled with boats that are in use every day by recreational and commercial owners who are not just interested in protecting our waters and air, but love the quiet ride, the absence of noxious fumes, the minimal maintenance. They are also proving that electric propulsion can satisfy the range requirements of the vast majority of boaters."

The criteria for the awards is entries that "best represent excellence in electric boats". The definition of excellence is up to each individual judge or public voter. Having narrowed the field through a multiple vote process, the panel members will each vote again to select a single boat in each category.

The winners will be decided through a combination of the online voting and the weighted votes of the panel.

October 25, 2023 Midnight EST: Voting ends
October 28: Gustave Trouvé Award Winners announced

Awards will be presented in 9 categories and sub categories:

Electric Boats Up To 8 metres / 26 feet:
Two Sub-Categories: Boats in Serial Production and Boats In Development
Electric Boats Over 8m / 26 ft:
Two Sub-Categories: Boats in Serial Production and Boats In Development
Electric Sailboats
Electric Work Boats.
Commercial Passenger Electric Boats:
Two Sub-Categories: Boats in Operation and Boats In Development
Retrofitted / Customized / DIY Electric Boats

The Gussies are the only international boating awards that focus exclusively on electric boats and were created to recognize the inventors, designers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs and visionaries who are making advances every day to develop clean, quiet, zero emission technologies and designs to reduce reliance on fossil fuel for marine propulsion.

They are named to honour Gustave Trouvé, a prolific French inventor with over 75 patents - among them the world's first outboard boat motor, which he devised so that he could detach the motor from his prototype electric boat 'Le Teléphone' and take it home for further work in his Paris apartment.

The International Panel is made up of representatives from past Gussies Winners: Candela, Cantiere Ernesto Riva, Echandia, ecomarine, Faroboats, Freepower Solar Boat, Kochi Metro Water Taxi, Lamarca Engenharia, Maid of the Mist, ABB, MobyFly, Navalt, Silent-Yachts, Swiss Sustainable Yachts, Sunreef Yachts, Wildtech, ZEN Yachts and Zodiac Nautic.

They are joined by members of the electric boat associations of the UK, France, USA, Greece, Switzerland and Canada, the Venice 2028 organization, Germany's Friends of the Finow Canal, the Foiling Awards and the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge.

While M. Trouvé's invention predates the 1887 patent of the internal combustion engine, and electric boats have been available since the first years of the 20th century, it is not until recently that they have begun to enter the mainstream. Now they are following rapidly in the footsteps of the electric vehicle industry.

Yahoo Finance reports that the electric boat market is forecasted to grow exponentially in the forthcoming years as more boaters seek sustainable and eco-friendly options for their leisure activities. SkyQuest Technology Consulting estimates that the electric boat market will exceed USD 14.95 Billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 12.96% from 2023 to 2030. finance.yahoo.com/news/electric-boat-market-estimated-cross-133000889.html

A report by Allied Market Research in June, 2022 says 'the global electric boat market was valued at $5.0 billion in 2021, and is projected to reach $16.6 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 12.9% from 2022 to 2031." www.alliedmarketresearch.com/electric-boat-market-A08766