Team Aoki’s RaceBird planes on its hydrofoils during an experimental session in Doha on February 21.(Image credit: Dan Bathie/Spacesuit Media)ShareShare by:
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Gliding across the water’s surface atop slender hydrofoils, they resemble more like low-altitude unidentified flying objects rather than boats.
However, the E1 Series’ “RaceBirds” — individual electric speedboats with 6,000-volt power units, able to attain velocities of nearly 50 knots (58 mph, or 93 km/h) — are undoubtedly terrestrial. Alternatively, they represent a swiftly expanding sport endeavoring to usher electric vehicles into the maritime world.
Such is the principle underpinning the UIM E1 World Championship. Celebrated as the “Formula One of the Sea,” it already garners support from famed team proprietors like Will Smith, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Rafael Nadal, Sergio Pérez and Virat Kohli.
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The 2025 tournament, marking the series’ sophomore year, will unfold across seven locales: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Doha, Qatar; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Lago Maggiore, Italy; Monaco; Lagos, Nigeria; and Miami. It provides a venue for the competition’s nine teams as they vie to become masters of the water. Nevertheless, the contest represents more than merely a competition for its originators. Their aim is to demonstrate the viability of electric motors in aquatic settings.
“Water mobility is significantly contributing to contamination,” said Rodi Basso, an E1 co-founder and CEO, previously affiliated with NASA as a scientist and F1 as an engineer, during a discussion with Live Science. “The term ‘sustainability’ is fast evolving into a challenging concept. Starting from essential communication and awareness, addressing an existing issue, we now need to shift from simply acknowledging the issue, to actively discovering solutions. The boat offers exactly that.”
A new sport is born
Basso’s motivation to initiate E1 arose early during the COVID-19 epidemic, while he and Alejandro Agag — E1’s chairman and co-founder, and a pioneering figure in electric motorsport through Formula E and Extreme E championships — were walking alongside the River Thames in London.
Once Basso proposed an electric powerboat championship, Agag furnished the funding and racing expertise vital to progressing the development, fundamentally lifting the boat off of the water’s surface. Inspired by the way birds glide across water, Sophi Horne of Seabird formulated a design that allows the 24-foot boat (7.3 meters) to elevate its hull more than 3 feet (1 m) above the surface at speeds of 19.5 mph (31 km/h).
“It’s akin to manipulating an aircraft’s control stick. When you engage it, the nose dips, so you usually draw back,” revealed Sam Coleman, a pilot for Team Brady, triumphant in the first E1 World Championship of 2024, during a talk with Live Science. “Navigating one of these vessels is far closer to flight rather than boating.”
Team Rafa and Team Brazil’s RaceBirds engage in a high-velocity collision in Monaco on July 19.
In consequence, the boats produce fewer waves when sustained upon the three wing-shaped hydrofoils, thereby reducing coastal erosion. Decreased friction with the water also enables higher speeds. These facets in conjunction with 20 seconds of enhanced output supercharge the battery operation from 95 to 140 kilowatts, empowering the vessel to peak at 50 knots.
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However, heightened speed includes significant disadvantages. While raising the RaceBirds on their foils can enhance velocity, it also inhibits sharp turns. Cavitation — the phenomenon of generating air bubbles — becomes a risk in the water beneath.
“At around 50 knots, they turn unstable,” declared Basso. “The water surrounding the hydrofoil starts to bubble, which reduces pressure and uplift; subsequently, the boat may collapse. Moreover, it occurs very unexpectedly.”
“As such, pilots are honing remarkable awareness and insight, determining where this critical point exists, and operating just shy of it,” he further conveyed.
Consequently, competitors must judiciously decide when to activate their boosts and when to lift their boats onto their hydrofoils during races, which involve a set of timed preliminary runs to secure participation in a final skirmish involving five boats vying for the finish line.
Success hinges on discovering the ideal racing trajectory around turns. This can include maintaining a broad course atop their hydrofoils, or impacting the water nearby buoys, before accelerating onward utilizing their boost, all while negotiating the choppy waters from rival vessels.
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This requires substantial focus and instantaneous decision-making, both further aggravated by cockpit conditions that can reach 167 degrees Fahrenheit (75 degrees Celsius).
“It’s draining; akin to sitting within a sauna while driving a racing simulator that constantly jolts up and down,” clarified Coleman. “The margin for error is minuscule; an otherwise excellent performance can falter due to a mere fraction of a degree divergence in the trim, sufficient to trigger a porpoise effect or an oscillation that takes time to rectify.”
To augment pilot performance, engineering crews ashore meticulously scrutinize data from every boat segment before dispensing guidance via radio. Team owners closely monitor race outcomes as well.
“Tom Brady, the team owner for our team, mentioning that fact remains surreal. Crucially, he is actively engaged,” added Coleman. “He’s following along. Similar to Rafa and Will Smith’s presence at Lake Como, they relished the experience, assimilated the details, and displayed intense competitiveness while securing an exceptional opportunity to spotlight and elevate an emerging sport. I perceive the journey we’re embarking upon to be remarkably thrilling.”
Moving in silence
Maintaining captivating and competitive races hinges on persistent alterations to the RaceBirds’ engines and propellers. These design enhancements enhance both performance and handling while diminishing the environmental influence of these nearly inaudible, zero-emission vessels.
Chief scientist for E1, Carlos Duarte, reports the resultant electric vessel is around 50-fold quieter compared to combustion engine boats. As a marine biologist, Duarte, who earned the 2025 Japan Prize recognizing his impact through research on marine and coastal ecology, is promoting voluntary industry-wide schemes throughout E1 to create less noisy maritime transport.
RaceBird lingers in the water nearing the E1 final in Monaco on July 19.
“The impact from a mere 20% cutback to noise [emitted by ships] during the COVID lockdown saw frequent reports of large marine animals documented globally across habitats that hadn’t had these animals observed for generations,” Duarte told Live Science. “As such, handling noise produces favorable conditions for boat operators, given that electric boats offer cost effectiveness over combustion engine boats alongside being quiet.”
Duarte also leads undertakings aiming to enhance E1 race city ecosystems. These entail aquatic rejuvenation and protections alongside procedures for neutralizing the environmental repercussions from these races.
Through E1, he sees a vital gateway to establish collaborations with stakeholders to bolster environmental regeneration — especially as an alternative to conventional political summits where he feels his “scientific credentials within the marine industry” are ineffectual, likewise among other scientists.
“In practice, I am voiceless. It is my aim to empower those having a voice to relay communications that the world needs to hear,” declares Duarte. “As such, E1’s leadership approach, in the form of celebrity spokesperson, will guide me.”
The E1’s 2025 season starts Jan 25 and lasts until Nov 8, with impending racing in Lagos on Oct. 5 and Miami on Nov 8.
Ben TurnerSocial Links NavigationActing Trending News Editor
Ben Turner is a U.K. based editor and writer at Live Science. He focuses on topics including astronomy and physics, technology, and climate shift. Earning a degree in particle physics from University College London, Ben proceeded to train to be a journalist. Outside professional pursuits, Ben delights in literary works, playing guitar, and challenging himself via chess.
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