First E1 Series electric boat race won by Team Brady
After two days of tense competition along the shores of the Red Sea, the first E1 series electric boat race was won by the team owned by NFL superstar Tom Brady followed by the team of multi Grammy award winner Marc Anthony in second and that of Indian mega cricketer Virat Kohli placing third.
Thousands of in-person spectators attended the inaugural UIM EI World Championship event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with tens of thousands more watching via television and live streaming.
Eight teams, each with a female and male pilot
“The past two days of competition have surpassed all expectations and the passion, commitment and spirit shown by all of the team pilots has been incredible.” said Rodi Basso,
CEO & Co-founder of E1. “E1 has firmly landed on the global sporting map. Huge congratulations to Team Brady for taking home the first ever E1 Championship trophy.”
There are eight teams in the E1 Series, all owned by some of the most recognizable international names in sport, entertainment and business. Each team has a male and female pilot who have proven themselves in various other off-water and on-water speed competitions.
| TEAM | OWNER | PILOTS |
| Aoki Racing | Steve Aoiki, DJ and music producer, designated highest tour-grossing electronic dance music artist in North America. | Mashael Alobaidan Saud Ahmed |
| Team Blue Rising | Virat Kohli, all-time run-leader in Indian Premier Cricket League, former India Captain and considered one of the greatest batsmen of all time. | Lisa Caussin Battaglia Phelim Kavanagh |
| Team Brady | Tom Brady 7-times Super Bowl Champion, entrepreneur, celebrated as one of the world’s most successful sports stars. |
Emma Kimiläinen Sam Coleman |
| Team Brazil | Marcelo Claure, Technology Entrepreneur, Investor, Founder & CEO of Claure Group |
Catie Munnings Timmie Hansen |
| Team Drogba | Didier Drogba UEFA Champions League Winner, 4-time Premier League Winner and 2-time African Footballer of the Year |
Oban Duncan Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq |
| Team Miami | Marc Anthony Multiple Grammy Award winning artist selling over 12 million albums worldwide |
Anna Glennon Erik Stark |
| Team Rafa | Rafael Nadal 22-time Grand Slam Tennis Champion |
Cris Lazzaraga Tom Chiappe |
| Sergio Perez E1 Team | Sergio Perez 6-time Grand Prix Winning F1 Racing Driver |
Viki Piria Dani Clos |
Al teams use the Racebird hydroplaning electric boat, designed by Sophi Horne. They are powered by Mercury Racing’s 150kW (≈ 200 hp) electric outboard engine and Kreisel high-capacity batteries with 35 kiloWatt hours of energy storage. T0p speed is about 58 mph (≈ 50 kt, 93 km/h).
Jeddah first in series of 8 race events
The Championship is made up of eight races, each race spread over two days. The first day is made up of qualifying races, which were won by Team Miami (total time 6 minute, 23.33 seconds) with Team Rafa about 10 seconds behind (6.33.62) and Team Brazil third with a time of 6.39.44.
On the final day, Team Brady rose from fourth position to take top spot with a total time of 6:58.518 followed by Team Miami in 7.17.268 and Team Blue Rising in 7.43.835. Team Rafa was fourth with 7.51.941.
In terms of points after Race 1, the Standings are Team Brady 20, Team Miami 17, Tea Rafa 14, Team Blue Rising 10, Sergio Perez E1 Team 8, Team Drogba 5, Team Aoki 3 and Team Brazil 1.
The next race is in Venice on May 11 and 12 and the final event is in Honk Kong November 9 and 10. Along the way there will be stops in Puerto Banūs (June 1-2 June), Geneva (June 29-30), Monaco (July 26-27) and Rotterdam (September 7-8).
