Man who spent 200 days building a solar-powered explorer yacht that can run forever takes it out for its maiden voyage
Published on Jan 19, 2026 at 10:10 PM (UTC+4)
by Daisy Edwards
Last updated on Jan 19, 2026 at 2:11 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
A man who spent 200 days building a solar-powered explorer yacht that can run forever has finally taken it out for its maiden voyage.
The YouTuber just launched Helios 11, a solar yacht prototype he says he built in Finland, then sailed into the frozen canals of France.
With winter ice slowing his progress, he used the downtime to pressure test his new catamaran concept.
But its maiden voyage didn’t get off to a smooth start.
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His solar-powered explorer yacht had a frosty maiden voyage
Helios 11 was designed to be a practical yacht that lived on sunlight and could keep moving without the need for marinas or fuel stops along the way.
But the maiden voyage of his solar-powered explorer yacht did not start with perfect conditions.
After reaching the canals of France, sections were frozen, leaving the boat stuck until conditions improved.
Instead of calling it a pause, he treated it as a moment to test out his new solar-powered yacht project.
The goal remained the same: a solar vessel that could travel forever, powered by the sun, but also feel like a steady, comfortable place to live.
Designing a vessel that won’t capsize
While Helios 11 continued its journey, the builder is already hinting that he’s going to build a new platform: an ultra-narrow catamaran concept he calls Halo 13.
He built a 1:13 scale model with two very skinny boat hulls, then weighted it to match a realistic center of gravity for the full-size boat.
In the water, the model stayed calm in waves coming from the side, head-on, and diagonally.
The real standout was his discovery that it was very unlikely to capsize.
Despite a relatively narrow beam for its length, the model appeared highly resistant to rolling over, with the builder suggesting only an extreme breaking wave at the wrong angle would pose a serious threat to it.
Next up, he plans to refine the shape of his new catamaran, run more tests, and build a scaled Helios 11 model to compare single hull and double hull behavior side by side.
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As a Content Writer since January 2025, Daisy’s focus is on writing stories on topics spanning the entirety of the website. As well as writing about EVs, the history of cars, tech, and celebrities, Daisy is always the first to pitch the seed of an idea to the audience editor team, who collab with her to transform it into a fully informative and engaging story.
