Silent Yachts, the Couple Who Put a Catamaran on Sunlight

Two sailors who trusted the sun more than the wind

Before they built a single boat, Michael and Heike Köhler had logged, by their own reckoning, upward of 75,000 sea miles across more than 6,000 days afloat. Years of waiting on fickle breezes or burning diesel convinced them that sunshine was the steadier resource in most cruising areas. Their answer, begun in 2009, was a 46-foot prototype called Solar Wave that ran both its propulsion and its domestic loads, galley and watermaker included, from photovoltaic panels. Starting in 2010 the couple lived aboard for four years, taking it along European rivers and across the Black Sea, the Aegean and the Mediterranean, and Michael later told Power and Motoryacht they never needed the generator during the first three.

Series production started in 2016 with the Silent 64, and two years later an owner sailed one across the Atlantic, a first for a production solar boat. Thai yards built the early hulls. In 2022 Yachting reported that the company was shifting manufacturing to Italy, and by 2024 it was marketing itself as an Italian builder led by chief executive Fabrizio Iarrera, with contact numbers today in Italy and the United States.

The Silent 60, the SY62 and the current range

Our covered model, the Silent 60, was the company's volume boat from about 2021, pairing a large rooftop solar array with twin electric drives, lithium storage and a small diesel generator held in reserve. Several motor and battery packages were offered, and the model page sets out their outputs alongside the cruising speeds testers recorded. The 60 collected the Gustave Trouvé Award in its launch year, and a Front Exit layout variant followed in 2022.

The SY62 took over from it in 2024 as the heart of the 60 Series, and late in 2025 an owner-crewed SY62 completed an Atlantic crossing with batteries supplying the power for nearly three-quarters of the trip. Silent's range today comprises the 60 Series, the 80 Series and a 120 Explorer, with the SY80 shortlisted for Multihull of the Year 2026. Buyers who do not want a whole boat can join a managed co-ownership scheme.

Buying a used Silent in US waters

On the brokerage market, a Silent's worth hinges on the health of its batteries and high-voltage electrics more than anything else. Technicians who understand these systems are thin on the ground away from Florida, underwriters scrutinize lithium installations, and berthing a wide catamaran costs real money, so annual ownership runs well into six figures. Our Silent 60 page gives estimated asking prices and running costs, and notes how the arrival of the SY62 has started to weigh on values.

Give the electrical inspection at least as much attention as the structural one.

• Battery health reports and charge cycle history from the management system
• That the installed drives, storage and generator match the original specification
• Insulation monitoring, cooling and condition of high-voltage cabling
• Each photovoltaic panel and its fixings for cracking or hot spots
• Hours on the generator, a good clue to real-world use
• Build location, Thailand or Italy, and yard records