At the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge the zero-impact boats of the future

MONACO – The Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2022, the world’s only event dedicated to innovation and sustainability in the boating industry, got underway for its ninth edition from 4 to 7 July. Organized by the Monaco Yacht Club in collaboration with the Prince Albert II Foundation, the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge is an unparalleled event, all about promoting the sustainable future of boating through the use of renewable and clean energy sources to power boat engines. Not surprisingly, the event is part of the broader series of initiatives called “Monaco, Capital of Advanced Yachting”, launched by the Yacht Club of Monaco to strengthen the Principality’s position as an international centre of excellence in zero-impact boating.

Young engineers from all over the world and belonging to 27 different universities from over 20 countries took part in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge to showcase their clean energy boat prototypes through various types of competitions. Specifically, there are three competition classes within the rich programme, which the YachtingNews editorial staff is following live:

• “Solar Class”: the classic challenge between solar-powered boats, which has existed since the first edition of the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge held in 2014;
• “Energy Class”: a competition in which the Monaco Yacht Club supplies the exact same catamaran hull to all registered teams, challenging young engineers, in collaboration with partner builders, to design the most efficient and durable cockpit and propulsion system, always of course using only zero-emission energy sources;

• “Open Sea Class“: a race open mainly to exhibitors from the Monaco Yacht Club’s marina and to electrically powered boats already finished being built and about to enter the market. It is an endurance test designed to highlight the range of boats powered by an electric motor by racing them along a route of around 30 kilometres from Ventimiglia to Monaco.

The Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2022 in numbers

More than 50 boats powered by alternative energy sources, 38 team projects developed by students and the industry and tested in real sailing conditions, more than 20 countries represented including France, Indonesia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, Peru, China and Canada: the figures for the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2022 make it clear that this is an event of international significance for the cutting-edge boating sector, confirming the Principality of Monaco’s world leadership in this respect.

On the other hand, says Monaco Yacht Club Secretary General Bernard D’Alessandri, “our desire is to build an eco-responsible future in order to take care of tomorrow’s generations. The boating industry will not be able to evolve if it does not integrate the concept of sustainable development into each of its initiatives”.

The programme of initiatives

The Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2022 is an interactive event packed with conferences for the interested public and industry insiders, which will be attended by real celebrities such as Mike Horn, appointed by Prince Albert II as ‘Ambassador for the Health of the Planet’.

The event programme also includes a conference entitled ‘The Energy Transition in Yachting: Opportunities and Limits’ and the third round table of the Monaco Hydrogen Working Group, entitled ‘Unblocking the Obstacles to Hydrogen in the Maritime Sector: Port Regulation and Economic Viability of Projects’.