We’re positive this has happened to you before: you pull up in your latest EQ Mercedes, or accidentally flash the inside tag of your Belstaff overcoat, and people at large immediately jump to the conclusion that you don’t really care about the environment. It’s nothing personal. Luxury is seldom green. Some Luxury brands around the world have launched scattered creations that focus on sustainability, but we should be honest about it: sustainability has not often been at the top of most classical luxury brand’s priorities. This is changing, obviously, but the reputation damage is already there, compounded by decades of indifference – ours as well as theirs, we claim no innocence here.
Fortunately for us, and for the planet we share, new Luxury brands are arising today that place eco-friendliness at the very top of their priorities, right from inception. And Faroboats is one of them. A brand new power boating concept that has materialized with their Faro5 and the Faroboats Solar Set Solution – at once redefining the concept of self-sustainability. Both are the brainchildren of Tomás Costa-Lima, seasoned designer extraordinaire, whose decades-long passion for sustainable mobility and the Ocean – he is Portuguese after all – have culminated in an elegant, undeniably beautiful and fully self-sustained solution that may very well revolutionize water bound luxury. But what exactly is it?
The Faroboats Solar Set is made up of two main components: the Faro5 runabout; and its custom-built Solar Docking Station.
So let’s start with the main toy in this set: The Faro5 Runabout. Clearly inspired by its 1920’s ancestors, the sleek lines of this 16 ft electric-powered boat can only be described as stunning, as it quietly slices the placid waters of the Bajkał Lagoon where it was first trialed back in early 2021. Tomás, her author, likes to dub it “streamline design” but, for us mere mortals, it’s poetry in motion.
Riding the Faro5 is the closest thing to sailing you can experience aboard a powerboat. Its 100% electric powertrain ensures absolute quietness, giving you the almost eery sensation of effortlessly gliding through the water with only the swish of the parting waves as your soundtrack. The extreme V-shape of the planing hull was built for the sea. It seats 5 in ample comfort. And the exquisite details around the cockpit bring the glamorous 1920’s into the XXIst century, with its built-in cooler and cup holders, top-of-the-line Fusion Stereo System featuring powerful marine speakers, and bow seats that are hidden and flush with the top deck when not in use.
Speaking of top deck, the uniqueness of the Faro5 is further highlighted by the exquisite hues of the Cryptomeria japonica (sometimes called Japanese Cedar), in long hand-picked slates that are custom-assembled to seamlessly cover the entire upper surface of this floating gem. Each Faro5 is exactly like no other, since nature does not repeat exact patterns. Cryptomeria is a very large evergreen tree that is similar to the related giant sequoia. It was introduced to the Portuguese Azores islands in the mid 19th century and it’s currently the most cultivated species in the archipelago, occupying over 12,698 hectares, 60% of its production forest, and about 1/5 of the region’s total land area. The Faro5 is exclusively produced with FSC certified, sustainably forested Cryptomeria from the Azores Islands. The wood is pleasantly scented, reddishpink in colour, lightweight but strong, waterproof and resistant to decay. Over time, you will learn to recognise your Faro5 at a glance, since there is no other exactly like it.
But the sheer poetic beauty of the Faroboats Solar Set can only be perceived once you watch it glide smoothly into its custom-built Solar Docking Station.
This Solar-Charging, floating dock is really the culmination of Tomás CostaLima’s vision of self-sustainability. Literally born for each other, the dock not only charges the Faro5’s batteries in under 2 hours, but it can raise it completely out of the water to keep its hull dry and free of any fouling. While the Faro5 can naturally be charged from any grid outlet, the beauty and convenience of the FaroBoats Solar Set lays on its full independence from any human infrastructure. The Solar Docking Station recharges its batteries completely within the course of one day in the sun. And then it can fully charge the Faro5 in less than two hours; anytime, anywhere, regardless of the existence of any power grid at hand. The dock itself is towable, so you can take it anywhere and have the absolute freedom of quietly exploring some of the remotest, most exquisite corners of the world.
The FaroBoats Solar Set is the latest, most advanced solution for carefree and environmentally conscious power boating. So, can Luxury be green? It certainly can. With undertones of liquid blue in this case.
