Silent Running, Sweet Design

When it comes to aspirational boating, whether power or sail, many boaters first think of the Hinckley brand. That hasn’t changed much in the modern recreational boating era, especially now with a new hybrid upgrade of its iconic Picnic Boat that can run in full silence with its trademarked SilentJet technology.

Hinckley launched its first fully electric luxury yacht in 2017, a super-light, open deck center-console called Dasher. The builder's upscale clients (a new Picnic Boat starts at $1 million) liked the boat but wanted greater range.

"With SilentJet, you can travel farther with the hybrid diesel system than with the Dasher’s electric platform,” says Geoff Berger, CEO of The Hinckley Company. "Furthermore, we learned that electric-powered water jets are much quieter and produce less vibration than traditional propellers. To deliver a truly silent cruising experience that feels almost like sailing, we knew our water jet propulsion system was the best fit."

Check out this video to see for yourself.

Hinckley started conceptualizing a hybrid solution shortly after the 2017 launch of electric Dasher. A collaboration with marine transmission leaders Twin Disc led to the new hybrid technology into Hinckley's JetStick control system and featured automatic components.

With SilentJet engaged, the Picnic Boat 40 S's cruising speed is 7 knots. Range is at least an hour (at 7 knots, and up to 90 minutes at 5.5 knots), and the Picnic Boat 40 S cruises at 35 knots (depending on load) under diesel power.