The creator of the Formula E and Extreme E electric car competitions, Alejandro Agag, recently revealed, at the prestigious Yacht Club de Monaco, the RaceBird, the first electric powerboat geared towards speedboat racing. The project, developed with engineer Rodi Basso, will open the first circuit of the electric powerboat racing category, the E1 Series.
Built by marine technology companies SeaBird Technologies and Victory Marine, the powerboat will have Mercury Racing engines and is designed to "fly” on the water at an impressive speed of 50 knots (approximately 93 kilometres per hour). The RaceBird will feature a 35kWh Kreisel battery and will boast a peak power output of 150 kW.
With no physical obstacles, the competition for which it was created – scheduled to begin in 2023 – will be mapped by GPS triangulation only. When racing the course, RaceBird will tear up the waves using digital cartography and navigation with positioning software from Navico. The boats will have single piloting, with enclosed cockpit and elegant aerodynamics to facilitate speed preservation.
The first RaceBird race is expected to take place off the coast of Monaco. At the moment, engineers are working on the integration of the battery and control systems of the platform, which will be followed by the propulsion architecture. A stage that will take a few months, before the prototype powerboat enters the testing phase at the beginning of this year. The local authorities are helping with the design of the route to ensure that the race has as little environmental impact as possible.
Built by marine technology companies SeaBird Technologies and Victory Marine, the powerboat will have Mercury Racing engines and is designed to "fly” on the water at an impressive speed of 50 knots (approximately 93 kilometres per hour). The RaceBird will feature a 35kWh Kreisel battery and will boast a peak power output of 150 kW.
With no physical obstacles, the competition for which it was created – scheduled to begin in 2023 – will be mapped by GPS triangulation only. When racing the course, RaceBird will tear up the waves using digital cartography and navigation with positioning software from Navico. The boats will have single piloting, with enclosed cockpit and elegant aerodynamics to facilitate speed preservation.
The first RaceBird race is expected to take place off the coast of Monaco. At the moment, engineers are working on the integration of the battery and control systems of the platform, which will be followed by the propulsion architecture. A stage that will take a few months, before the prototype powerboat enters the testing phase at the beginning of this year. The local authorities are helping with the design of the route to ensure that the race has as little environmental impact as possible.
