260

Read the record properly

Voltari's 91-mile Key Largo to Bimini crossing is a genuine achievement and a genuinely misleading headline. It was covered at an average of about 4.3 knots over roughly twenty hours — displacement speed, overnight, across the Gulf Stream. The 52-knot top speed comes from 551 kW drawing on 142 kWh, and at anything near that pace the usable range collapses to a fraction of the quoted 79 nautical miles. Both figures are true; they simply describe two entirely different ways of using the same boat.

Who should want one

The buyer who has decided that going electric must not mean going slow. At 8.6 metres and €415,000 the 260 is a sports boat first: short, fast, quiet, and with no pretence of accommodation. Anyone whose boating is measured in miles covered rather than minutes enjoyed should be looking at a longer, softer hull such as Vita's Lion instead.

The caveats are few but material. The price is converted from a US$450,000 starting figure and will move with exchange rates and specification, so treat it as a guide rather than a quotation. More practically, replenishing a 142 kWh pack in any reasonable time needs proper shore infrastructure, and that remains scarce in most European marinas. A performance boat that spends most of a day recharging for an hour of use is a poor purchase until the berth question is settled first.