Candela builds electric boats that rise above the water on hydrofoils. In 2022, just before the launch of the C-8, they wanted to show how the technology works, explained by the people who built it. Robin made a series of three films with them.
So the $100 million question is: why hasn’t anybody built an electric hydrofoil boat before? I think the reason is it’s damn difficult.
Gustav Hasselskog, Founder and CEO, Candela
The starting point
A boat that flies is easy to film and hard to explain. The foils, the flight controller and the motor are what make it work, and almost all of it is under water or inside the hull.
The films were made first of all for engineers who might want to work at Candela. They need to see that the technology is real, and that the people building it know what they are doing. A job ad can’t show that.
There was a side effect too. A film that goes deep into the technology is exactly what a technically minded buyer wants to see.
What we did
- The people who built it. Each film is led by the people responsible for that part of the boat: founder and CEO Gustav Hasselskog on the foils, control system engineer Kristian Sloth Lauszus on the flight controller, and senior engineers Tomas Löfwall and Claes Bonde on the motor.
- As deep as it needs to go. No simplified version for a general audience. The films go into lift-to-drag ratios, sensor fusion and motor design, at the level an engineer would want. Kristian explains that the first prototype ran on a flight controller he had written for a drone.
- A small crew. Robin made all three films together with Otto Norin, who also filmed much of the material.
What it became
- Episode 1: The C-Foil System, with Gustav Hasselskog.
- Episode 2: The Flight Controller, with Kristian Sloth Lauszus.
- Episode 3: The C-POD Motor, with Tomas Löfwall and Claes Bonde.
Each film is three to four and a half minutes long, with English subtitles.
The series is on Candela’s own support site, as Candela Tech Talks.
Why it works
Engineers trust other engineers. A film where the people who designed the system explain it in their own words says more about a company than any job ad can.
And because the films don’t simplify, they reach further than recruitment. The same depth that convinces an engineer makes a technically minded buyer want the boat.
