Seven

Who it suits

Very few new buyers, and that is the honest answer. The Seven — Candela's C-7 — was the yard's first production hydrofoil, and it has been superseded by the C-8; it now surfaces second-hand in small numbers rather than being ordered. Anyone drawn to it is really a used-boat buyer chasing foiling efficiency at a discount, and should approach it on exactly those terms.

The caveats dominate

Our records carry no confirmed motor, battery or price figures for this model, and for a foiler that matters more than it would on a conventional hull: the flight controller, sensors and control software are as much of the boat as the carbon structure, and their long-term support determines whether it still flies in five years. The later C-8 moved to a submerged C-Pod drive that cannot be retrofitted to the Seven, so the two do not share a parts path.

What is genuinely good is the construction. Hull, deck and deck components are all carbon fibre, using techniques borrowed from aerospace practice for impact resistance at very low weight, which is the foundation of the whole concept. The six-seat cockpit is tighter than the C-8's eight. If you want a Candela to keep, buy the current model. If you want the technology cheaply and can accept orphan-model risk, this is the way in.