Speed Race results

Our competitors just finished the race which means that we unfortunately can not win this Speed Race anymore. We placed 7th in this race and are now waiting for the official results. Tonight the overall score will be announced and we will hear where we ended up in this competition. No matter the final score, we are extremely proud of what we achieved so far!

Team meeting

The entire team gathered together to discuss the strategy for the rest of the race. Everybody had a chance to say how they are feeling and what they think is the best way to move on. Stay tuned to hear more!

All hands on deck!

Once the boat is back in the harbour we will try to figure out the issue and fix Aurora. Everybody of the team is on full force to help out; Head Quarters is looking at all the data with our expert from Flying Fish. They are brainstorming together on what is causing this issue and how we can solve it. The support boat is getting all the tools necesarry to fix Aurora. Meanwhile our strategy team is keeping a close eye on our competitors and is discussing how to proceed the race. Everyone in the team is doing whatever they can to help. Let's fix this!

Being towed back to the harbour

Unfortunately it is hard to pinpoint the exact problem. We looked into different investigation strategies, but could not figure out what was going wrong. Therefore Aurora will be towed back to the harbour now. We need your support now more than ever!

Working together to solve the problem

We are trying to fix the problem. The team on shore at HQ is analyzing the data to investigate the issue while the pilots are opening up the hatches to check all the cables. The pilots and HQ are in close communication with each other through our communicator Jesper. We are prepared to handle these situations in a calm manner thanks to our testing experience. We won't give up!

Technical issue investigation

After a good start, we encountered a technical issue after two massive waves hit the boat. The pilots are now inspecting the problem while HQ is working hard to analyze the data and fix the error. They suspect that there is a short somewhere in the electrical system. Stay updated on the progress of this issue by following this blog!

START Speed Challenge

3, 2, 1 GO - the Speed Challenge has officially started! The start was crowded with a lot of boats on the water. Our competitors had a fast start, but we were able to catch up in no time. We started in 4th place, but are currently overtaking the other boats. Our fans are cheering from the quay to support the boat crew. Let's go!

Scouting the track

While we are waiting for the official start of this race, our support boats are already out on the Open Sea to scout the track and check the waves. There are some big waves of almost 1m, but they are lower than yesterday. "The waves yesterday were intense. This is something different compared to Drimmelen (our testing location)." said Ruben, our pilot. Luckily we designed our boat to take up these big waves of the Mediteranaen. We are curious to see how the other boats will handle these though conditions.

Delayed start

Aurora is now waiting in the harbour before sailing to the starting line. The start is slightly delayed, because a super yacht is coming into the harbour. The pilots can not wait to start the race, "I am super excited for today" said pilot, Ruben.

Final race day

Today is the final race day of the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge. After winning the Endurance Challenge yesterday and placing second in the Manoeuvrability Challenge the day before, it is now time for our last race: The Speed Challenge. This is our last chance to show our best performance and become World Champions!

In less then 30 minutes our race will start. We will sail 16 Nautical Miles to the Italian city Ventimiglia and back as fast as possible. This is the final opportunity to show the efficiency and performance of our boat. Our pilots are ready for the race, are you?

Tech talk

T0 close off this successful second race day, we presented our project to everyone in a tech talk. All teams participating in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge gave a presentation about the technical journey they went through building their boats.

It was an inspiring moment, learning from others and sharing our knowledge. Jesper presented our team mission and Frank dove into the technical aspects of our project. We also presented the innovations we made this year.

Stay tuned for our next and last racing day tomorrow. Let's win this championship!

Au revoir

Official results: 1st place!

The official results came in and we placed first in the Endurance Challenge! We won with a difference of 2 laps between us and second place. This achievements underlies that hydrogen could play a vital role in the future of sustainable shipping.

Today we only consumed 2.6kg of hydrogen during the race. With this hydrogen consumption we should be able to sail 720km on full tanks. This means that Aurora could sail from Delft to London and back!

Celebrating this achievement

Currently we are waiting for the official results of the race organisation and preparing the boat to be in the best condition for tomorrow. Now it is time to celebrate this big achievement together with the team. Join this celebration with us by keeping your eyes on all our social media channels!

We won the Endurance Race!

We finished first in the Endurance Race! Aurora completed 14 laps in almost 3 hours and left our competitors behind us. All the friends and family that cheered on shore were so supportive. It was a great race and we are so proud of what we achieved!

Strategy discussion

Now that the pilots and Aurora are back safely in the harbour, we are discussing the best strategy to proceed the race. We are closely monitoring what our competitors are doing so we can respond appropriately. Our Head Quarters is working together with Gijs, an industry expert from Flying Fish, to analyze the other boats to decide on the next step. Stay tuned to follow the progress of this Endurance Challenge!

Sailing back to the harbour

Because of the increasing height of the waves, it is difficult to sail on the Open Sea. Therefore most of our competitors have returned back to the harbour. To preserve Aurora we will also sail back now and come up with the best strategy together. We are still leading this race!

High waves

The weather is changing and winds are picking up. Therefore the solar and energy class boats have been requested to move back in the harbour by the race organisation. Because of the wind, the waves are now over 2m. The pilots are still feeling confident and smiling. They are in close contact with HQ to ensure that the boat crew and Aurora stay safe.

2 hours done, 2 to go

We are halfway through the race and are leading with 11 laps! We have sailed over 50km with an average cruising speed of 40 km/h. Our closest competitor behind us is the Riva El-Iseo, an electric prototype boat. They also had a quick start, but are now slowing down and can not keep up with Aurora.

Back to foiling!

The pilots investigated the boat and noticed that a connector of the cooling pump came loose. They fixed the issue and are now sailing again! Even though we were laying still for a moment, we are still taking the lead in this race with 9 laps. Are you ready for lap 10?

Temperature issue

Head Quarters keep a close eye on all the temperatures to ensure that the cooling is working properly. They noticed that the temperature of the motor was going up and adequately informed the boat crew. The pilots are now inspecting the boat to check what is going on with the help of the data analysis of Head Quarters. Together they are trying to get Aurora sailing again soon!

Enjoying the sun

We are over 1 hour into the race and still in 1st place! Aurora has no problem to sail on the Open Sea and is stably foiling over the 0.8m Mediterranean waves. The pilots are feeling comfortable and are enjoying the sun. "I am getting tanned" said Eric, co-pilot.

Statistics live from HQ

Lap 5 is a fact! While the boat crew is sailing, our Head Quarters crew is keeping a close eye on all the data from the boat. They analyze the data to optimize our strategy for the hydrogen consumption of our boat. Fun fact from our HQ team: in the 15NM we just sailed we only consumed an astonishing amount of 0.6kg. If we keep this up, we will have more than 7kg of hydrogen left at the end of this race!

Overtaking our competitors

Aurora has been sailing at a speed of 23 knots which is over 40 km/h! We are stably foiling on the waves and have no problem overtaking our competitors on the track. The average speed of the electric boats is lower as they are trying to spare energy to be able to sail for 4 hours. The power of hydrogen is showing in the first half hour of this race!

Completed the first lap

We just completed the first lap! Each lap is 5.55km and it took us less than 15 minutes to finish this lap. You can follow the laps on this live tracker: https://webtv.monacocapitalyachting.com/energy-boat-challenge/races-stadium/ . How many laps do you think we can do today?

Taking the lead

We are off to a good start and immediately took the lead in the Endurance Race! Aurora is being followed closely by our competitors as we are approaching the first buoy. The team and our fans are cheering on the quay and we feel your support from home too!

Ready, set, race!

PEW - with the sound of the starting gun the Endurance Race has officially started! Want to stay updated about who is taking the lead? Follow this live blog for the latest updates!

Start of day 2

Bonjour! This morning the team got up super early to do the last maintenance on the boat so Aurora is in top condition for the most important race: the Endurance Challenge. In this challenge we will sail as many laps as possible in 4 hours. The race starts in 10 minutes and Aurora just sailed out of the harbour for the start. Let's show the power of hydrogen!

End of first race day!

Our first day is finished! After the official opening of the competition with the parade, all boats participating in the Open Sea Class had to tackle four manoeuvres: docking at port and starboard, turning around a buoy, completing a slalom and making a 360° turn backwards. In a time of 3 minutes and 9 seconds, we were the second fastest boat to complete all manoeuvres. What a great way to start the competition!

Tomorrow we will continue with our second and most important challenge: the Endurance Challenge. For this challenge we sail laps for 4 hours straight. The boat completing the most laps wins. Here we will demonstrate the true potential of hydrogen!

Bonne nuit et à demain

Checking the boat

After completing the Manoeuvrability Challenge, we sailed out to the Open Sea one more time to practice the laps for the Endurance Race tomorrow. We successfully tested the rear height control again on the Mediterranean waves. This concludes the testing time for the Endurance Race here in Monaco!

We closely check the boat after every test run. During the last inspection we noticed that we need to do some maintenance to the foils. Therefore we will lift the boat out of the water tomorrow morning to ensure we are at our best at the Endurance Race!

Official results: 2nd place!

We are off to a good start by placing 2nd in the Manoeuvrability Challenge! We completed all manoeuvres in a time of 3 minutes and 9 seconds. Our team is super proud of this achievement.

The boat crew worked together smoothly and followed an efficient strategy. Aurora went super fast through the slalom and was able to sail the 360° turn backwards at the maximum allowed speed of 4 knots.

"It was amazing to hear our fans and all other Dutch teams cheer for us" said co-pilot Eric. This support gave the crew extra motivation to sail as fast as possible: "with every manoeuvre you could hear the fans screaming".

We are very happy with our performance of today and look forward to the next challenge tomorrow, the Endurance Race. This is just the beginning!

Stop the time: finish Manoeuvrability Trial

We have completed our first challenge: the Manoeuvrability Trial! The boat crew worked together seamlessly to perform all the manoeuvres with the support of our team and fans on the quay. We have set a time of  3 minutes and 9 seconds. Later today we will hear the set times of our opponents and find out if we won this race element. Stay tuned for the official results of this first challenge!

Start of the Manoeuvrability Trial

We have kicked-off the Manoeuvrability Trial! It is finally time to show the abilities of Aurora. This morning we practiced the manoeuvres and thought of the best strategy to complete the course as fast as possible. The boat crew is ready to set the fastest time and win this first challenge. All our fans are cheering from the side to help us win this race! Are you supporting us from home too?

Parade

The Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2023 has officially started! This year is a special edition as we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of this innovation driven event. We are now sailing in the parade. It is an impressive and cheerful showcase of solar, hydrogen and battery boats. The teams are representing 21 nations and 31 universities. We are happy to set an example for the maritime industry together!

Final rehearsal

We just finished practicing the Manoeuvrability Trial. The manoeuvres we need to perform are docking with the right and left side of our boat, sailing around a buoy, completing a 360° turn while sailing backwards. The race starts and ends with the boat crew on the dock and we have to perform all these manoeuvres as fast as possible at a max speed of 4 knots. We are happy with the results of this practice run and can not wait for the race!

Before the race we are now hitting the Open Sea waves one last time for a final rehearsal today. Yesterday we sailed a new speed record of over 50 km/h! We are now finetuning the boat to a stable foiling cruise speed with the help of an industry expert. What do you think will be our top speed?

First race day!

Bonjour and welcome to the live blog of the first day of the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge!

Today the event starts with a parade where all the boats participating in the various competition classes can be admired in the harbour. It is amazing to see all other boats sailing on different sustainable energy sources, such as solar and battery.

After the parade we will start with our first challenge of the race: the Manoeuvrability Trial! In this challenge we are tested on our ability to make specific manoeuvres in the harbour. 

To fully prepare ourselves for this challenge we are going to do a final test manoeuvrability practice in the harbour now. We are confident and ready for this challenge. Let’s show what our boat can do!

Succesful first test on the Open Sea

We just finished our first successful test! One week ago we had a foiling hydrogen-powered boat in inland waters and now we took the next step: we are foiling on the Open Sea! We could not be more proud of what we have already achieved, but this is just the beginning. Tomorrow at 13:30 the first race starts and we will now prepare Aurora for this manoeuvrability trial. Are you ready for the race?

Foiling on the Mediterranean waves

Aurora is sailing on the Open Sea and made its first rounds foiling!
The boat crew is now getting used to the sun and optimizing the control of Aurora on the Mediterranean waves. With the data we collect during our test runs, we will analyse our hydrogen consumption to maximize Aurora’s efficiency during the races. We are looking forward to race!

Start of the first test on the Open Sea!

Bonjour! Today is a very exciting day as we are going to test the boat on the Open Sea for the first time. This morning the team started the day at the Yacht Club and prepared the boat for sailing. The final checks are now being performed and Aurora will leave the harbour soon. Stay tuned to see how she will perform on the Mediterranean waves!

We passed the technical inspection!

We passed the technical inspection! Every boat competing in the race is thoroughly checked by the organisation of the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge to inspect if all boats comply with the rules. The safety regulations, the electrical system and the cockpit where our pilots sit during sailing to steer and control the boat were just inspected by the technical committee.

Now that the technical inspections are done, we are preparing our boat for testing on the open sea for the first time tomorrow. We can not wait to see how Aurora will perform on the Mediterranean waves and hope you are just excited as we are!

À demain

Manoeuvrability practice

Aurora sailed her first meters in the harbour of Monaco. The boat crew has just practiced some challenging manoeuvres and they all went smoothly. We were able to make sharp turns, moor quickly and sail backwards fast. We are very happy with the results of this first test and look forward to the first race!

The race consists of three challenges: Manoeuvrability, Endurance and Speed. First the boat's manoeuvrability will be put to the test in the first challenge of the race. On Friday, we will take on the second challenge, the Endurance Challenge, where we will sail as far as possible in 4 hours. On the 8th of July, we will compete in the final race element: the 16NM Race, which is all about speed. With every challenge, the boats earn points and the team with the most points wins the world championship. In case of a tie, the winner of the endurance race will be the deciding factor.

Follow this blog to stay updated on all the races!

The boat is in the water

Today, the team got up early to lift the boat to attach the struts and foils. When the boat was fully assembled, it could finally get a taste of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a very exciting moment for the team to finally see the boat in the harbour of Monaco!

Now it is time to test our boat by practicing the Manoeuvrability Challenge in the harbour. After this first practice run the boat will be inspected by the technical committee and if we pass the technical inspection we are allowed to test our boat on the open sea. Stay tuned to see the first meters of Aurora in the Mediterranean waves!

We arrived in Monaco!

Yesterday we prepared the boat to be lifted into the water today. After that we will dry test the boat and practice in the harbour.

Want to see the first meters of Aurora sailing in Monaco? Stay tuned for the latest updates!