Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2024 an electrifying success! Part I

The 11th Monaco Energy Boat Challenge (MEBC) has wrapped up after four groundbreaking days at the host Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM) and it was a milestone week for the world of electric boating. There were 50 student teams from 40 international universities competing in the Energy Class and Solar Class division and 15 commercially available electric boats in the Open Sea Class.

This article will focus on the commercial electric boats who participated in the Open Sea Class, Part II will focus on the university competitions.

Read: Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2024 bigger and better than ever

This was the largest on-water congregation of electric boats in history, which led to a feeling of energy, excitement and optimism that was evident throughout the event and around the YCM in every conversation and encounter. There was a real sense that this was a moment when electric boating is coming of age and the possibilities for the future are opening up quickly.

Gallery of Open Sea Class Boats at MEBC 2024
Hover for scrollable dots and arrows, click any image for full size gallery

Much of that excitement stems from the Open Sea boats showing a wide range of electric boats, from the 18 foot (5.5m) Valkama Picnic Cruiser to the 50 foot (19m) Deep Silence yacht from Sialia. Also exciting was that the propulsion and drive trains were comprised of both outboards and inboards, with power of from 25kW to 400kW, and included two boats – the MadBlue Marine P-01 and Inocel Poseidon – that get their energy from hydrogen fuel cells. 

While the university side of things was all about the intercollegiate competition, the commercial boats were there for additional reasons: to show off their wares and provide sea trials for potential brokers or end clients; to participate in the first Annual General Meeting of the International Electric Marine Association; and to talk shop among themselves.

That shop talk can be very productive. At last year’s MEBC, Stewart Wilkinson of Vita Power and Leif Stavøstrand of Evoy started up a conversation which resulted in the companies making an announcement at this year’s event that they would be joining forces to accelerate the adoption of high power electric propulsion.

Read: Electric boating pioneers Vita and Evoy join forces

The conversations between powertrain manufacturers, boat builders and designers, charging technology companies and others became more formalized this year with the first Annual General Meeting of the new International Electric Marine Association (IEMA) and their presentation of two seminars.

At its core, though, the Open Seas Class of the MEBC is an opportunity for everyone in the electric boat community to show off the breadth and depth of what an electric boat can do.

There were three competitions in the Open Sea Class: the Manouevrability Trial,  Endurance Trial, and 16 Nautical Mile Speed Trial. What those trials proved is a couple of things. One is that different electric boats are better at different tasks (no surprise, because that is true of every boat, no matter what it is powered by) and the other is that for just about whatever you are looking for in a boat, there is now an electric option.

Open Sea Manoeuvrability Trial

In the Manoeuvrability Trial, competing boats were required to navigate a tight course around buoys positioned in the YCM marine. Maximum speed was 3 knots (3.5 mph / 5.5 kmh) and the winner was the boat that completed it in the shortest time.

The 5.8 m (19 ft) SeaDog RIB finished just 7 seconds faster than the E’dyn, which is about 1.3 metres (≈4 ft) shorter and has an outboard motor rather than an inboard setup like the SeaDog. Coming in just a few seconds longer than the E’dyn was SeaDog’s ‘big brother’ (or sister), the 7 m (23 ft) Seal.

These placings are great testament to both the Seal and SeaDog, especially the SeaDog, as it was specifically designed as a workboat for harbours and marinas. Needless to say, this kind of manoeuvrability is a great asset for those boats – particularly when proven in a marina.

For MEBC week, Vita had supplied the YCM with a number of SeaDogs to help out with all of the judging and transporting and guiding that needed to be done. The rest of the year the Club uses both gasoline/petrol boats and electric boats.

Speaking with a couple of the Club’s pilots, they told me that they were very impressed, and that the SeaDog could do everything their gas boats could do. It’s those kinds of impressions (and proofs of performance) that will get more and more marinas starting to look at the benefits of electric, and be important in the adoption of electric boats by everyone.

The next two boats in the trial were, a bit surprisingly, both longer than 7 m (23 feet) and: the Goldfish X9 with Evoy propulsion and the SeaLab5 from Sealence, with the company’s DeepSpeed electric hydrojet motor.

The final two boats were the E23 from De Antonio Yachts and the El-Iseo from Riva. (Not every boat competed in every trial, for instance there wasn’t much point in a 59 foot electric yacht trying to navigate the marina course!)

Open Sea Endurance Trial

It always seems the two things people most want to know about electric boats (especially the doubters) is how fast they can go and how far they can go.

The Endurance and Speed Trials give us all some answers, along with good news about the suitability of electric boats for the average boater.

The Endurance Trial took place in the waters outside the Monaco Marina, heading towards Italy. This is where the Yacht Club de Monaco hosted the first international powerboat contest, in 1904. The waters are notoriously choppy and unpredictable, largely because there is no beach in this area. This means that the waves and swells of the Mediterranean roll into shore, hit a large wall, then rebound back out, causing cross wakes and significant waves that are difficult to see and pop out of nowhere.

The top three boats in this trial were the Vita Seal, Evoy 2 Goldfish X9 and Riva El-Iseo. The course was set up in laps of 3 nM each, with the Seal completing  10 laps and the other two top place finishers completing 9 laps. All were out in the sea for more than 3 hours and all had average speed of at least 8.5 knots / ≈10 mph / 15 kmh.

What struck me about these results is that it is a pretty good afternoon in a boat if you go out 15 nautical miles from shore or along the shore, hang around for some swimming and socializing, maybe some standup paddle boarding, then head home. That’s exactly what these boats enable.

Eight and a half knots is not flying along, but it is a respectable and enjoyable speed for a friends-family outing, and the advantage of spending the day in an electric boat is that you can still easily talk with one another throughout the whole journey.

The one outlier in the Endurance Trial was the SeaLab 5, which seemed intent on showing off its speed. She was only out on the water for just over an hour, but she was travelling at 21 knots / 24 mph / 40 kmh, two and a half times as fast as the winners. So in the balance of speed/distance, this is also a very good showing for those who are skeptical of what an electric boat can achieve.

Open Sea 16nM Speed Trial

Yes, finally, the results most people are waiting for: SPEED !

To let you know right up front, the Evoy 2 Goldfish X9 broke the record for Monaco Energy Boat Challenge with a speed of 30.89 knots  / 35.54 mph  / 57.21 kmh clocked over 16 nautical miles (18 miles / 30 kilometres).

I had the opportunity to go out on this boat. It. Is. Fast. Goldfish is known to build boats for people who like the thrill of speed, and this all electric RIB does not disappoint. It has a 300 kiloWatt / 400 horsepower inboard drive, and with the immediate torque of the Evoy it can go from 0-50 mph in 10 seconds.

The second place finisher, the Riva El-Iseo, is a luxury boat totally different from the stripped down Goldfish RIB. It was first produced by Riva to celebrate the company’s 180th anniversary, and is named for the lake where the boatyard started. 

Unfortunately, I did not get an opportunity to go out on the El-Iseo, but I did see it up close many times on the E-Dock. It. Is. Beautiful. It is every bit as stylish and luxurious as you would expect a Riva to be, and it is also no slouch in the speed department.  It arrived at the finish line only 56 seconds behind the Evoy Goldfish and clocked an average speed of just under 30 knots.

The excitement of the Speed Trial, though, was the finish line sprint between the pilots of the SeaDog and Seal. Like any company, there is always friendly competition, and both captains were pouring it on as best they could in the final seconds. The SeaDog took the honours this year, with a time difference of just 5 seconds between the two boats.

It was only the day before that Vita and Evoy had announced their new agreement, so there was much joy around as the group celebrated their four boats finishing 1-2-3-4 in the Speed Trial. There was also the excitement the next day of meeting and chatting with Prince Albert II of Monaco.

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is a key sponsor of the MEBC and the Prince himself is a keen proponent of  alternate energy propulsion and electric boat owner himself.  He makes it a point each year to visit all the participants in the Energy Challenge – Solar Class, Energy Class and Open Sea Class Class – and doesn’t just give them a handshake and a smile, but chats about their projects, genuinely interested in finding out more about their new ideas and initiatives. 

First Annual General Meeting of IEMA

Officially launched in February after months of background work, the International Electric Marine Association held its first Annual General Meeting during the MEBC, boasting a membership of 70 companies and organizations from every continent.

Executive Director reviewed IEMA’s goals, strategies and progress in promoting electric propulsion across all sectors of boating and shipping, including small recreational boats to yachts and superyachts, commercial boating from small fishing vessels to cargo ships, as well as charging, ports and marinas.

On Thursday the organization also held two round table discussions. The first covered the topic of ‘Talent, Academia and the Future of the Professional Landscape’. The current and future challenges of finding the ideal people in a very young and rapidly expanding industry was explored by Panellists Sue Putallaz of Moby Fly electric-hydrogen foiling passenger vessels; Jesse Makkonen of fast-charging solutions provider Kempower; and Chris Cudlipp of SeaVolt, specialists in offshore renewable energy sources.

The second round table covered “Data, Information and The IEMA Blue Terminal” with panellists Bas Edmonds, Director of Marine Services at HPi Verification Services; Nathan Baker, Chief Technology Officer at SeaBird Technologies; and Ollie Taylor, Associate Director at Anthesis Group and MarineShift360. Here the discussion centred around the types of data that are necessary for fact-based planning in the electric propulsion industry and how manufacturers might be able to contribute to and source a collective database and best practices information. 

Plugboats has been covering the MEBC since 2019 and watched it grow each year, expanding the number of universities in the student competitions and also providing everything that the commercial electric boats need to show their stuff. This includes the E-Dock, with chargers by Aqua superPower, that kept all 13 of the Open Sea entries charged throughout the week.

Read Plugboats coverage of the MEBC since 2019

Each year provides another landmark in the growth of electric boats and another look at what the future holds. Each year also indicates that the future is coming at us faster than some might suspect. Next year’s MEBC once again promises to be bigger and better, a trend that is likely to continue for some time. Congratulations to all involved, it was a thrill to attend.

Electric Boat Companies in MEBC 2024 – click tile for links

 

Exciting things are happening every day in electric boats and boating.
Subscribe to the Plugboats newsletter so you don’t miss a thing!
(Or follow us on social media)

Email address:

Leave this field empty if you're human:

Add Plugboats to your Google News Feed