Boat test for the 2008 Mochi Craft Long Range 23 hybrid with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, engine test reviews and rating for the 2008 Mochi Craft Long Range 23 Hybrid.

Running under electric power is eerie. The propulsion system produces no sound; whatever you hear is made by air and water. Acceleration is leisurely: Standing start to top speed (6.7 knots, although Mochi expects to eventually see 7 or 8) took 35 seconds. (On diesel our 23 hit more than double that in about 25 seconds.) One oddity is the relationship between throttle setting and speed. Full throttle produced 6.7 knots; half throttle dropped that by only 0.6 knots, and 20-percent throttle still generated 5 knots. As for recharge, the diesels alone can restore both fully depleted banks in about four hours; shore power takes about 12.

Under diesel power, the 23 feels like any similar boat, with two exceptions. Since the MANs are more powerful than the electric motors—600 kW versus 90 kW—she's faster—faster even than a conventional displacement vessel. Given a waterline length of 66'8", the 23 has a theoretical hull speed of 10.95 knots. Yet I measured a top speed of 14.6 knots. How so?

The reason is the hull, the Ferretti Wave Efficient Yacht or FER.WEY. Created by the 136 engineers and 73 naval architects of the Ferretti Group's Advanced Yacht Technology (AYT) division, it's a transplaning hull form. Features include a bulbous bow, relatively flat midsections, and aft sections that warp into extremely deep propeller pockets—so deep, the boat can sit on her keel with neither rudders nor propellers touching bottom. Equally remarkable is the flat running angle: a maximum of 1.0 degree at 2250 rpm and slightly negative readings from 1250 to 1750 rpm. Compare this to typical displacement hulls that tend to squat as they approach theoretical hull speed, then transition to negative (bow-down) readings as more power is applied. I noticed little of that, and what there was I corrected by deflecting the two seven-square-foot canard wings.

Mochi claims that FER.WEY also reduces pitch and roll, important considerations on a boat this tall. Although AYT has impressive data comparing FER.WEY to both semidisplacement and planing hulls, between the dead-calm seas on test day and the ARGs, which flattened everything out, I could verify neither claim. My seat-of-the-pants impression, however, is that the boat is pretty stable, although I did notice a tendency to heel outward in turns, not surprising given her long, deep keel and tall profile.

It's clear that Mochi is serious about this being a true "expedition-style" yacht, and her specs support that: an impressive lamination schedule and a tempered-glass windshield nearly a half-inch (0.47") thick. But to be a legitimate contender, any such boat needs range. The 23's 1,900 statute miles is nothing to sneeze at, but does fall short of many bluewater cruisers. The culprit is not efficiency but tankage. Those batteries preclude saddle tanks that might double the 23's fuel load. Compare her 2,061-gallon capacity to that of, say, the Selene 75's 3,200 gallons. No word if non-hybrid 23s will have more tankage. Yet horizon chasing doesn't seem like the primary mission of this boat. Long-range voyaging she can certainly do, but it is long-range thinking that sets her apart from other boats. The ability to go somewhere, stay a while in total comfort, and return without disturbing man or beast makes the Long Range 23 arguably the ultimate cruising yacht.

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