If Barilla is where there is home, where there is electricity there is Agag, that is the Spanish manager son-in-law of the former Spanish conservative prime minister Josè Maria Aznar. After Formula E, the world championship for zero-emission racing cars, and Extreme E, the circuit reserved for battery-powered off-road vehicles, Alejandro Agag presented together with his partner Rodi Basso – formerly Barrichello’s car engineer at Ferrari and former director of McLaren Motorsport – the E1 series, the first world championship for electric boats.
On the eve of World Oceans Day, Tuesday 8 June, the organizers of the competition have formalized the cooperation with the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia, whose authorities have already embraced the Formula E project and are also focusing on the more “sustainable” Dakar.
A.Agag, S.Horne, R.Basso
The operation had been anticipated last autumn at the exclusive Yacht Club of Monaco, when the performance of the RaceBird was also mentioned. Developed by SeaBird Technologies (Sophie Horne is the founder) and by Victory Marine (CEO is Brunello Acampora), the battery-powered boat should be able to exceed 50 knots (93 km / h), less than 60 it was mentioned in the Principality. As for the other two circuits, the Electric Sea Racing Limited should also involve symbolic places: prestigious centers, such as Montecarlo, but also places threatened by climate change.
A spectacular “fig leaf” to present an exhibition for the rich in an environmentally sustainable way. For the first edition of the championship, scheduled for 2023, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia have already been considered for one of the stages. The organizers imagined the participation of 12 teams and a circuit divided into 10 races.
Inspired by nature, the RaceBird is equipped with an electric outboard motor and enclosed cockpit and will be able to lift itself off the surface of the water, thus reducing friction. In the coming months, Victory Marine engineers will concentrate “efforts and resources in building a complete fleet of electric motorboats ready for competition”.
