A 12-metre catamaran powered only by solar energy, with a capacity for 30 people, designed to tour the Arade River and the Algarve coast, made with «99% Portuguese technology».
This is the «Sun Cat I», the company's new vessel startups Algarve Sun Boat Trips, which is already operating in the Algarve, having had, on its maiden voyage, the presence of several special passengers, including Rita Marques, the Secretary of State for Tourism.
Pedro Mestre, CEO of Algarve Sun Boat Trips, stressed that the new maritime-tourist vessel is «an investment made with technology and know-how 99% Portuguese. There's only 1% that we couldn't even if it was Portuguese technology, being from an Icelandic company».
And what is this Icelandic technology? It is an add-on to the application that can be downloaded and which, through the GPS signal, disappeared on the customer's mobile phone information about the landmarks of heritage or landscape, as they pass through them during the boat journey. As a mobile phone signal is not required, as it uses GPS technology, information can be accessed more reliably and anywhere on the tour. This also prevents that, on board, that background noise of the guide's voice, always debiting information.
It's just that, as Pedro Mestre pointed out (and all the special passengers that inaugural tour), silence is another of the distinguishing factors of the solar catamaran. You can almost only hear the wind, the lapping of water on the hulls, the screams of seagulls… and the voices of those on board, since the engine is silent. And there's no annoying smell of engine exhaust.
However, "this silence must also be filled with something that makes the trip attractive". The fact that the vessel is powered by solar energy, silent, non-polluting, is only «the gateway to an experience that, on the whole, is different from any maritime-tourist experience. We don't just put solar panels on a boat, we want to provide a unique experience», stressed the entrepreneur.
Algarve Sun Boat Trips is the first maritime tourism company in the Algarve to operate with a 100% ecological fleet, with no carbon emissions, on electro-solar vessels that allow comfortable, quiet and, above all, environmentally friendly trips.
Algarve Sun Boat Trips' investment in sustainable mobility aims to «position the company as one of the main ecologically responsible players operating in the tourist entertainment market in Portugal».
Its CEO Pedro Mestre says that “a normal catamaran for 30 people consumes at least 215 liters of fuel per 100 nautical miles. After a year, this new catamaran saves the environment from the emission of 50 tonnes of CO2. This is the future we want for the Algarve and for our planet».
But not everything has been rosy for Algarve Sun Boat Trips. «Our first experience, with the other solar vessel we have, was in 2017. It took us four years to get here», a time marked above all, according to the businessman, by «licensing tests».
In statements to the Sul Informação, Pedro Mestre revealed that the new solar vessel represents an «investment of about half a million euros, generating three permanent jobs and six to seven jobs at the peak of activity in the summer».
Aboard the new catamaran, three other entrepreneurs followed, all linked to the Start Up Portimao, operated by the company Territórios Criativos and the Municipality of Portimão and which is headquartered at the Algarve International Autodrome. And, thanks to the silence of the trip, between Marina de Portimão and Leixão das Gaivotas, in front of Praia dos Caneiros, it was possible for each of them to present their projects.
The first was Pedro Gloria, which presented its SWRS project, an innovative system for reusing gray water from toilets and saving between 30% and 40% of drinking water, whether in a house or a hotel, without the need to carry out works. This project earned Pedro Glória the 1st prize of the Green Up program and is now beginning to be implemented in a resort of reference in the Western Algarve.
The second was Pedro Esteves, who launched a space of coworking gastronomy in Portimão. In an old restaurant located in the city center, Pedro created a space with all the conditions of an industrial kitchen for the production of food, catering, etc., which can be rented by other people or companies, “for one day, two days, every week, only once a month, in short, when these people need it”. The success has been so much that the coworking gastronomic already has its capacity occupied at 80%, having only the dawn hours available. «If, at this moment, a similar space were opened in Faro, I already had four brands wanting to work with me».
The third entrepreneur to speak was Izabella Guzsvan, from TULAlabs. It is a startup foreign, linked to the automotive and robotics sector, which installed itself in the Algarve incubator, taking advantage of the potential generated by the fact that it operates at the Algarve International Autodrome. TULAlabs is developing “disruptive transport solutions for people and goods”, namely a passenger transport line in electric, non-polluting and driverless vehicles.
The secretary of State for Tourism was listening carefully, asking questions to find out more details, as well as João Fernandes, president of the Algarve Tourism Region, responsible for Portugal Tourism and Portugal Ventures (from whose portfolio the Algarve Sun Boat Trips has been part since 2020, through the Call Tourism initiative), Luís Matos Martins, of the company Territórios Criativos, among other «interlocutors of the Algarve's entrepreneurial ecosystem». Strangely, no one from the Portimão Chamber was invited, which is even a key partner in the incubator installed at the Autodromo.
Secretary of State Rita Marques, speaking to the Sul Informação and referring to the new Algarve Sun Boat Trips catamaran, he explained that it is necessary to «ensure that those who come to the Algarve can have an innovative and more creative experience». Hence, he underlined, «these investments, which are supported by Turismo de Portugal via Portugal Ventures, deserve all the attention».
In fact, he added, “in the pandemic, we didn't confine our ambition. On the contrary! We continued to work, both on sustainability and innovation issues. We continue to invest in innovative and creative ideas and companies, such as this one».
Rita Marques, who the day before had been in Moncarapacho to present the “Tourism + Sustainable Plan 20-23”, he underlined that «this project combines the two components of sustainability and innovation, to ensure a tourist experience of excellence, taking full advantage of the assets that the Algarve contains».
On the other hand, João Fernandes, president of the RTA, despite the dark clouds that hover over tourism and economic activity in the region, he made a point of stressing that both the project of the solar maritime-tourist vessel, as well as the three others, presented during the short tour, are «signs that make me calmer, because they mean that the energy will not stop».
As for the “Sun Cat I” catamaran, the responsible for tourism in the Algarve had no doubts in stating that it was “a pioneering project that will show others what the path can be”.
Miguel Barbosa, from Portugal Ventures, after recalling that, «to be an entrepreneur, you need a little courage, a mixture of madness, feet on the ground and the will to fight hard», recalled that the new solar catamaran is the second. supported investment in the Algarve. The first had been, in 2009, the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
Luís Matos Martins, from Creative Territory, stressed that "this type of tourism products are transformative, because they encourage the diversity and complementarity of tourism, gastronomy, culture and heritage, sustainability, renewable energies".
Tours on the two solar boats from Algarve Sun Boat Trips They depart from the Marina de Portimão, aboard the «Sun Cat» (the 12-metre catamaran) or the Sunsailer (the 7-metre monohull). By sea, to Carvoeiro, Algar Seco and Benagil or towards the sunset, or upriver to Silves, with prices between 30 and 50 euros per person or 85 euros/hour in the case of a private rental, taking one of these ecological boats will undoubtedly be one of the experiences of the Algarve summer of 2021.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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