Monaco (Principality of Monaco) 3 Jul. (LaPresse) – The 11th Monaco Energy Boat Challenge gets to the heart at the Yacht Club de Monaco. More than 450 students from 40-plus universities around the world (25 nations) have been working on their ‘boat of tomorrow’ projects all year to earn their place and present them in the Principality. “Basically we have 3 different categories: Energy Class where we provide the same hull to all the teams and they have to develop their own cockpit for the driver, the storage of energy and the engine. We have many battery energy, fuel cell energy with hyrogen and also other sources of energy. Then we have the Solar Class, where we have many solar panels, more than 9 square meters of these. The third category is the Open Sea Class which is a certificated class of boats that are built from the industry and they’re competing in several activities to demonstrate which is the fastest, the most manoeuvrable and the one with the best efficiency”, explained Jeremy Laguarrigue, Jury president of the competition. Coming down to the numbers there are 18 teams in the Energy Class, 13 teams in the Solar Class and 15 in the Open Sea Class.
Participating for the first time is team Riviera Racing from Cambridge University. “We’ve been given the hull, which is standard across al the teams and we’ve gone for hydrogen power, electrical and then for two pods on the back of the boat as well”, said Annabel Gray. “It’s very daunting to see all the teams but they’ve all been incredibly helpful. There’s such a great culture of helping each other when we got a few different problems. It’s just been incredible so far”. In the Open Sea Class the Riva El-Iseo catches the eye on the quay: “We’re extremely glad to participate for the second year in a row to the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge. El-Iseo is a full-electric Riva, the first boat coming from Riva and the Ferretti Group with a full-electric propulsion that opens up a new segment in the yachting business: we called it e-luxury. It’s the first boat fully certified by Rina, with a complete electric propulsion at zero emission. The boat is already available in the market and not only for those who have an ecological approach but also to have access to limited waters”, said Enrico Sgarbi, director of communication Ferretti Group.
Supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, UBS, BMW and SBM Offshore, the event has attracted the attention and support of well-known names in the industry like Monaco Marine, Oceanco, Ferretti Group, Azimut/Benetti Group, Sanlorenzo and Lürssen, all keen to play a part in the yachting transformation. So for these young competitors there are opportunities to make contact with the industry by applying for job offers and internships via the Job Forum.
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