The Future of Clean Water Travel: How Electric Hydrofoils Are Making Boats Fly

Once built for speed, hydrofoils are now revolutionizing sustainable transport. From Stockholm to Mumbai, electric hydrofoil ferries are cutting emissions, reducing drag, and making water travel faster, smoother, and greener.

From Speed Obsession to Sustainability: The Hydrofoil’s Comeback

What began as a 19th-century experiment to make boats go faster has re-emerged in the 21st century as a powerful tool for sustainable travel.

The hydrofoil — a boat that “flies” above water using wing-like fins — is being reborn as the future of clean, electric water transport.

Once a niche engineering curiosity, hydrofoils are now at the forefront of a maritime revolution — one that could drastically reduce fuel use and emissions in small ferries, water taxis, and recreational boats.

As climate-conscious cities seek cleaner mobility solutions, these sleek, “flying” vessels are proving that the path to net-zero on water might not be about floating — but flying.

A Brief History: How Boats First Learned to Fly

The concept of hydrofoils dates back over 150 years. In 1869, Parisian inventor Emmanuel Denis Farcot filed the world’s first patent for a boat that could rise above the water on metal wings. It’s unclear if his design was ever built, but his vision — of a vessel gliding effortlessly over waves — inspired generations of innovators.

By 1906, Italian engineer Enrico Forlanini had made it a reality. His working hydrofoil boat soared across Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, marking the first successful test of a “flying” watercraft.

A few years later, Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, joined the race. He built several hydrofoil prototypes, culminating in the HD-4, which reached a staggering 70 mph (113 km/h) — a world water-speed record that stood for nearly a decade.

“In the early 1900s, people were experimenting with hydrofoils because they offered high speed and low drag — characteristics other boats couldn’t match,” explains Jakob Kuttenkeuler, professor of naval architecture at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.

By the 1960s, hydrofoils enjoyed another burst of popularity, especially among engineers and naval architects eager to make passenger boats faster. But the technology soon hit a wall — limited by heavy metal hulls, inefficient engines, and an overreliance on fossil fuels.

The Modern Resurgence: Powered by Electrification

Today, hydrofoils are enjoying their biggest revival yet — not for speed, but for sustainability.

The driving force this time isn’t competition or luxury; it’s electrification.

As nations transition to clean energy, engineers are turning to hydrofoils to solve one of the hardest challenges in marine transport — how to make electric boats efficient.

Traditional boats waste enormous amounts of energy pushing water aside. In contrast, hydrofoils lift the hull entirely out of the water, reducing drag by up to 80%. This means smaller motors and lighter batteries can power them — a game-changer for electric mobility.

“Today, the driving force for going hydrofoil is electrification,” says Kuttenkeuler. “Lifting the boat above the water reduces drag and makes electric propulsion truly viable.”

From Fossil Fuels to Feather-Light Flight

Early hydrofoils were built from steel and aluminum and relied on oil-fueled engines. Their V-shaped foils cut through the water but generated drag and turbulence.

Modern hydrofoils, however, use carbon fiber composites, smaller batteries, and smart sensors to maintain stability. Advanced software now automatically adjusts the foil angle in real time, allowing smoother, more efficient rides — even in rough water.

Kuttenkeuler himself helped pioneer this new generation of hydrofoils, inventing the eFoil — an electric surfboard that lets riders glide silently above the surface.

The concept has since captured the imagination of athletes, engineers, and tech enthusiasts alike. Even Mark Zuckerberg and other billionaires have been spotted cruising on eFoils — proof that hydrofoil tech has moved from laboratory experiments to luxury gadgets.

But the implications go far beyond recreation.

Hydrofoil technology is now making its way into public transport, where its potential to slash emissions and revolutionize commuting is becoming undeniable.

The Electric Ferry Revolution

For engineer Gustav Hasselskog, the journey toward cleaner boating started with a simple observation at his summer home in Vindö, Sweden.

He realized his small motorboat was burning an astonishing amount of fuel — nearly 15 times more per kilometer than his car.

“Nobody had done anything seriously about electrifying boats,” Hasselskog recalls. “So I started to look into what could be done.”

The challenge was daunting. Electric boats need large, heavy batteries, and the drag created by water resistance drains them quickly. But when Hasselskog discovered hydrofoils, he saw the perfect solution: lift the boat above the water, and you remove most of the drag.

That insight became the foundation of Candela, the electric boat company he founded in 2014.

Candela: The Swedish Company Making Boats Fly

Hasselskog’s company, Candela, has become the global face of hydrofoil electrification.

The company’s boats — sleek, silent, and fully electric — use hydrofoils to rise above the surface, gliding smoothly without wake or noise. The result? Energy consumption cut by up to 80% compared to traditional boats.

In 2025, Candela launched a pilot project in Stockholm, deploying its first all-electric hydrofoil ferry for public transport. The results were impressive — quiet operation, no waves, and zero emissions.

If fully adopted, Stockholm’s city officials believe such ferries could replace a significant portion of traditional diesel-powered water taxis and commuter ferries.

“Electric hydrofoils don’t just save fuel,” says Hasselskog. “They eliminate noise, wake, and seasickness — making water travel cleaner and more comfortable for everyone.”

The Physics Behind the Magic

Hydrofoils work much like airplane wings — but underwater.

As the boat accelerates, the foil’s shape creates lift, pushing the hull upward and allowing it to “fly” above the water’s surface.

This shift dramatically reduces contact with water, which in turn minimizes drag — the biggest source of energy loss for any vessel.

For electric boats, this is revolutionary: less drag means less battery drain and longer range.

On calm water, the sensation is almost surreal. Once the hull lifts off, the usual roar and splashing disappear. As Kuttenkeuler puts it:

“The sound completely changes. Once the boat rises, it’s silent — it’s like gliding on air.”

Advantages Beyond Emissions

The benefits of hydrofoils go beyond energy efficiency:

• No Wake Pollution: Hydrofoil boats create almost no waves, preventing shoreline erosion and protecting fragile ecosystems.
• No Seasickness: Because the hull rides above the waves, passengers experience less rolling and pitching.
• Less Maintenance: With fewer moving parts below water, hydrofoils suffer less wear from friction and salt corrosion.
• Quieter Travel: Noise pollution is drastically reduced — both above and below the waterline.

Challenges: Scaling the Technology

While small ferries and recreational boats have successfully gone airborne, scaling up to larger vessels remains challenging.

Hydrofoils must stay light and compact to maintain efficiency. The larger a vessel gets, the harder it becomes to lift it clear of the water without massive foils or power systems — both of which reduce performance.

There are also range limitations. Current electric hydrofoils can travel only moderate distances before needing a recharge. And underwater obstacles — such as floating debris, seaweed, or even marine life — pose collision risks.

To counter this, engineers are developing smart sensors and radar systems that detect and avoid submerged objects in real time.

“Hydrofoils must remain small to keep their speed and efficiency advantages,” says Hasselskog. “For long-haul routes, traditional hulls may still make more sense — but for urban water transport, hydrofoils are unbeatable.”

Global Adoption: From Stockholm to Mumbai and Beyond

Candela’s success in Sweden is inspiring similar projects worldwide.

In Mumbai, India, the company has partnered with local operator JalVimana to deliver 11 electric hydrofoil ferries, expected to start service in 2026. These vessels could transform daily commutes across Mumbai’s crowded waterways, cutting the travel time between the city and Navi Mumbai Airport from 1 hour 45 minutes to just 30 minutes.

In Saudi Arabia, Candela has sold eight hydrofoil ferries for use along the Red Sea, supporting the futuristic city project known as The Line.

Elsewhere, tourism hubs such as the Maldives and Belize have ordered 14 ferries to connect island resorts sustainably, while operators in Lake Tahoe, California, will use Candela ferries to carry passengers across the scenic lake with zero emissions.

The quiet, wake-free nature of hydrofoils also makes them ideal for eco-sensitive regions, where traditional boat traffic has been restricted due to environmental impact.

Why Hydrofoils Could Redefine Water Transport

As cities across the world battle congestion, air pollution, and climate change, waterways are being rediscovered as sustainable transport corridors.

Hydrofoil ferries can provide fast, clean, and reliable urban transit, especially in coastal cities like Seattle, Vancouver, Sydney, and Singapore — where rivers and harbors are natural highways.

By combining electric propulsion with lift-reducing design, hydrofoils offer a blueprint for the next generation of zero-emission transport — one that’s as efficient as trains and as flexible as buses.

“We’re not just building boats,” says Hasselskog. “We’re building a system that can replace cars and buses on the water — at a fraction of the environmental cost.”

The Broader Future of Hydrofoil Technology

The resurgence of hydrofoils isn’t limited to passenger ferries. Engineers and researchers are experimenting with:

• Cargo hydrofoils for last-mile logistics in port cities.
• Rescue and coast guard crafts capable of high-speed, low-wake travel.
• Autonomous delivery boats that use AI and sensors for navigation.
• Hydrogen-hybrid hydrofoils for extended range and higher payloads.

Even competitive sailing has been transformed — with America’s Cup yachts now flying above the ocean on computer-controlled foils, achieving speeds once thought impossible for sailboats.

A Quiet Revolution on the Water

From Farcot’s 19th-century sketches to Candela’s carbon-fiber ferries, the hydrofoil’s journey has been one of persistence, innovation, and reinvention.

Each technological leap — from early steam-powered craft to today’s AI-stabilized electric boats — has brought the world closer to a sustainable maritime future.

And the most remarkable transformation may not be what we see, but what we hear.

“When the boat lifts out of the water,” Kuttenkeuler says, “the sound completely changes — it’s as if the ocean falls silent.”

That silence — once a side effect of speed — may now be the sound of a cleaner, quieter, and more sustainable future for water travel.

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