WX 23

Silence, not speed

Read the numbers in the right order and the WX 23 makes sense. Two ePropulsion 3.0 outboards and a battery bank that tops out at three 3 kWh modules were never meant to plane a seven-metre platform, and the quoted top speed of around five miles per hour confirms it. This is a no-wake boat for lakes, canals and speed-restricted inland water, where the point is deck space, seating and the absence of engine noise.

That makes the modest energy storage less of a problem than it first appears. At displacement speed a nine-kilowatt-hour bank buys an afternoon of drifting, and it recharges from an ordinary domestic supply overnight. Twin outboards also give turn-on-the-spot manoeuvring that a single-motor pontoon cannot match, which matters far more at walking pace than horsepower does.

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone who wants to tow a skier, cross open water, or arrive somewhere on a schedule. There is also a pricing question: no European figure is published, and North American listings have carried the 23-foot tritoon at close to US$90,000 — substantial money for five miles per hour, unless you are a hire operator counting fuel and servicing savings over a season. One caution on the brand: Vision Marine's better-known product is its high-output E-Motion outboard, which sits at the opposite end of the same catalogue. Do not assume this boat inherits any of it.