Bright spark: Testing out Maserati's all-electric dayboat on Italy’s Lake Maggiore

When Maserati meets Vita Power, the result is electrifying – Belle Rice falls for the power and style of the new Tridente.

The name Maserati tends to bring to mind roaring engines, soft leather interiors and scenic drives through rolling Italian countryside. And Tridente, the brand-new dayboat collaboration between Vita Power and Maserati, certainly brings that spirit to the water – although the delivery is something totally different.

Perhaps surprisingly, the story of the Italian supercar marque’s origins lies in spark plugs. Brothers Alfieri, Ettore and Ernesto Maserati fitted First World War aircraft engines with the electrical ignition devices before settling in to car manufacturing via Alfieri’s side hustle as a racing driver, with their first car hitting the road in 1926.

It is fitting, then, that just under 100 years later the brand’s first foray into motor boats comes full circle: the Tridente is all-electric, with a total charging time that takes the powerbank from  10 to 90 per cent in under an hour.

On an early summer evening I step aboard the prototype on Italy’s Lake Maggiore. We cut through the calm waters before accelerating fast to its 40-knot top speed. Anticipating being drowned out by the overwhelming roar of the engines and the sound of the hull hitting the waves, we raise our voices – but the decibels drop and we realise with some surprise that the noise levels on board are so low we can hold a conversation at an entirely normal volume.

The Tridente’s design fuses Vita Power’s expertise in electric marine technology with the style and panache of Maserati to create a masterful dayboat or tender. The car marque and Vita Power share “the same vision on electrification… and our creations are both finished to the highest standards of craftsmanship, enhanced by beautiful and functional design without sacrificing performance and elegance”, says Klaus Busse, the German who oversees Maserati’s design team.

Vita Power built an initial iteration of this  10.5-metre electric carbon boat at JFA Yachts in 2021 called the Lion, that now belongs to the Yacht Club de Monaco. Taking a different approach this time – and aimed squarely at the superyacht market – Tridente has been brought to life at Hodgdon Yachts, the 200-year-old Maine shipyard that crafts some of the world’s highest-spec superyacht tenders.

Family owned and run, Hodgdon was the go-to choice for Luisa Bonello, the executive director of Vita Power. “As the most experienced boatbuilder in the US, its specialisation in crafting custom superyacht tenders offered the perfect opportunity to create the Tridente, bringing together its expertise in building boats to the highest possible standard with the heritage of the Maserati brand and Vita’s electric marine propulsion technology,” she says.

At 10.5 metres and 600 horsepower and with a range of up to 40 nautical miles, the Tridente is built with speeding down coastlines and across lakes in mind – an easy swing from Cannes to Monaco, say. Vita Power’s CTO was previously involved with Formula One, and it shows in the boat’s super-smooth acceleration. 

The model is named after the three-pronged spear carried by Neptune, Roman god of the sea, which has featured as Maserati’s logo since it was hand-drawn by a member of the Maserati family to embody the marque’s multi-pronged approach: elegance with a seriously refined aesthetic, and a need for both high performance and a sense of adventure. 

And after an hour or so on board and an extremely serene trip, it’s clear that the craftsmanship of the cars shines through. The boat has a lightweight metallic-painted carbon-fibre hull and the interiors feature comfortable monochrome leather seats for eight and Esthec decking in platinum and smoke colourways. As each model will be made to order, buyers will be able to choose their own colour scheme.

The Tridente is fitted with a spacious sun lounger that seats three; there’s a ladder, swimming steps and shower for splashing about after a lazy picnic lunch. The deck switches easily from fast-passage seating into an alternative dining configuration, with a fridge to keep the champagne nicely chilled. Below deck, there’s a berth with a double bed, head and a sink, should you need to recharge your batteries after a sun-soaked day.

Speaking of recharging, it really is as simple as it sounds, with a plug-and-play system set-up that means that even when the battery is low, by the time you’ve had a coffee in the marina bar she’ll be ready to hit the waves again. 

The beauty of an all-electric boat is that not only is there significantly less noise, there’s also no fuel smell. Vita Power’s charging points are easily installed on superyachts, Bonello says, and the brand has recently merged with Evoy, which has combined plug-and-play power train technology with a scalable production platform.

All that taken into account, it seems like there’s plenty of power behind this design. And with the spirit and style of Maserati thrown in, it’s definitely an electrifying result.

First published in the October 2024 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.