The ProtectorE 310 Chase, a joint build from New Zealand boatbuilder Rayglass and Northland electric propulsion company Naut, pairs Protector's celebrated hull with Naut's Kaha outboard, an electric motor its maker believes may be the most powerful commercially available electric production outboard anywhere. Three hundred horsepower continuous, five hundred and twenty five at peak. At full throttle Naut's Kaha outboard will be produce significantly less decibles than a traditional outboard.
Protector has spent four decades building a reputation few RIB builders can match, its hulls chosen as America's Cup support boats and trusted by Coastguard crews who need a platform that won't let them down. The ProtectorE changes nothing about that pedigree, Rayglass has kept the same advanced hull, the same ride, the same finish, and simply replaced what's under the cowling.
Behind that cowling sits Naut's own quiet pedigree. The Whangārei company was born out of McKay, one of New Zealand's largest electrical engineering firms, which built the propulsion for Wellington's Ika Rere, the Southern Hemisphere's first fully electric passenger ferry. Five years later, Kaha is the production result of that work, batteries fully configurable to whatever range or power a buyer wants, chargeable overnight at home, at a marina, or from a mothership, or back to full in under an hour on DC fast charge.
"We developed the Kaha outboard knowing it needed a world-class boat to demonstrate what it could do," says Naut CEO Fiona Bycroft. "A Protector vessel is an obvious choice, and having the backing of Brunswick alongside Rayglass makes this an incredibly exciting partnership for Naut." It's a fair boast, backed by a fair pairing.
Fewer moving parts and no fuel system mean fewer things to go wrong too, a case Naut makes as much on running costs as on romance. Rayglass sees it working for the everyday recreational owner as much as commercial operators running the same route day after day.
First trials begin in September, with sea trials opening to commercial and recreational buyers in late 2026 or early 2027.
Editor's take: The real story here isn't the horsepower number, it's who's putting their name on it. Startups build demonstrator boats all the time. A legacy builder of Rayglass's calibre staking part of its production line on someone else's drivetrain is the signal that electric propulsion has stopped being a proof of concept and started being a spec sheet.
