Electric Speedboats and Star Power: Will E1 Racing Actually Make Waves?
Image Credit: E1.
Just when I thought the world had run out of ways to combine water and mild peril, along comes E1. And they've roped in a cast of celebrities that would make a Hollywood premiere blush - Will Smith, Tom Brady, LeBron James, and even Rafael Nadal. Apparently, owning a vineyard in Tuscany is just too mainstream for today's A-lister.
So, what is this E1 malarkey? They are the sleek, silent assassins of the sea, or 'RaceBirds' as they call them, zipping around tight circuits. Kinda like Formula E, but wetter, and with significantly more chance of getting your fancy race suit soggy. And who's the genius, or perhaps mad scientist, behind this? A chap named Rodi Basso, who used to fiddle with batteries for McLaren's Formula E cars.
Will Smith and Tom Brady. Image Credit: E1.
In 2020, presumably after one too many espressos or a particularly vivid dream involving lightning-powered gondolas, he dreamt up E1. He then teamed up with Alejandro Agag, the maestro who already gave us Formula E and Extreme E. If there's a way to race something electric, Agag will find it, slap some sponsorship on it, and try to convince us it's the future. And find backers they did.
The 'RaceBirds' are handsome, I'll give them that. Each one is a 23-foot long, single-pilot foiler, meaning they basically grow wings underwater and fly above the surface once they get up to speed. And because they're all-carbon-fiber, these things weigh just 1,764 pounds. Designed by SeaBird Technologies and Victory Marine, with Mercury Racing providing the all-important electric oomph, they're engineering marvels. They look awfully pretty cutting through the chop, like silent, angry swans.
Team Rafa, Team Owner: Rafael Nadal. Image Credit: E1.
Under the hood, or deck, or whatever the nautical term is for the bit where the clever stuff happens, sits a 150kW electric motor. For those of you who speak horsepower, that's a rather respectable 201 ponies. Not enough to tow an aircraft carrier, perhaps, but certainly plenty to get these lightweight darts zipping along with surprising urgency.
Power comes from a 35 kWh battery, which, in the grand scheme of electric vehicles, isn't enormous. This means the pilots have to be clever. They can hit 50 knots, but it's not about flooring it in a straight line until the battery screams for mercy. That would be too simple. They've got to manage that precious battery life like it's the last biscuit in the tin, all while navigating tricky courses. It's a high-speed chess match.
Westbrook Racing, Team Owner: Will Smith. Image Credit: E1.
Currently, we have nine teams battling it out on the high seas, with plans to cap it at a dozen. And each team has both a male and female pilot who swap driving duties during the race series. How wonderfully modern and equitable! The celebrity owner list is quite something, as I mentioned.
Tom Brady, fresh from being Tom Brady and presumably wanting a new trophy cabinet for slightly wetter awards, has a team. Will Smith is backing Team Westbrook, hopefully with fewer dramatic on-stage moments. Even DJ Steve Aoki has traded his decks for a dock, and his team actually won the season opener in Jeddah. Rafael Nadal, Didier Drogba, Marc Anthony... It's like a very exclusive, very fast yacht club where everyone secretly hopes their boat is faster than everyone else's.
Image Credit: E1.
Last year, Team Brady clinched the championship, but it wasn't a walk in the park, or a gentle cruise on the bay. Smith's Team Westbrook and Anthony's Team Miami were nipping at their rudders. This season, with pilot shuffles and perhaps some lessons learned about not running out of juice on the final lap, it's anyone's game. Basso himself said the teams in Jeddah were separated by seconds, with the top two finishing just three-tenths of a second apart. That's close enough to trade paint, if boats had paint you wanted to trade, and if trading paint didn't risk a very expensive, very damp sinking feeling.
But are people actually turning up? Well, Jeddah saw 10,000 eager faces last month, up from 6,000 the year before. That's nearly double! Not exactly the Super Bowl, mind you, but it's a start. Sponsors are trickling in too, from mainstream giants like Cox to posh yacht builders like Azimut, who probably see it as a good way to show off to their billionaire clientele.
Image Credit: E1.
I only just found out that E1 is apparently halfway to a billion-dollar valuation target. A billion! For electric boats going around in circles! Rodi Basso claims the celebrity owners, these titans of sport and entertainment, are all savvy business people who see the 'potential.' He even mentioned some have sold shares of their team licenses for five times what they initially paid. So, someone's making money, or at least, making impressive figures appear on spreadsheets. Good for them, I suppose. But can a niche powerboat racing series, even one dripping with celebrities and electric zest, really become mainstream?
The slight hiccup in the celebrity master plan is that the celebrities need to actually show up with some regularity. Will Smith was a lone A-list ranger at the recent Doha race, looking a bit like the Fresh Prince of Qatar. While Basso assures us these owners are 'stakeholders keen to grow the platform,' you do wonder if their diaries, filled with other, presumably more lucrative, engagements like making movies or throwing perfect spirals, might get in the way of cheering on their electric hydrofoils.
Team AlUla championed by LeBron James. Image Credit: E1.
How does E1 plan to avoid the fate of, say, professional cheese rolling, which, despite its undeniable thrills and spills, remains stubbornly niche? Basso says E1 isn't just a sport. It's an 'expression of technology' and 'sustainability.' And, my personal favorite, it's also a 'lifestyle.' This means schmoozing with the 'premium aspects of the hospitality sector.' That translates to less muddy fields and lukewarm pies, more champagne and canapés at glamorous locations like Venice, Monaco, and Miami. They're even eyeing up the Caribbean, since nothing says 'saving the planet' like racing electric boats in exclusive, sun-drenched paradises frequented by the world's wealthiest.
Beyond the glitz and the 'lifestyle,' there's a genuine whisper of technological advancement that even piques my cynical interest. Basso mentioned a partnership with a tech company that makes battery cells for aerospace applications. The tech that makes these RaceBirds dance on water might one day help your electric helicopter take to the skies, or power your autonomous drone butler. That's actually quite neat and a far more compelling argument than just seeing a famous person wave from a balcony.
Aoki Racing Team, Team Owner: Steve Aoki. Image Credit: E1.
The racing itself is undeniably fun to watch. It's exciting. And, perhaps most revolutionary for motorsport, it's quiet. You can actually have a conversation with your companion without resorting to sign language or developing tinnitus. Imagine that! A race where the loudest thing is the cheering, not the engines.
Look, as someone who's seen more than his fair share of 'the next big things' fizzle out like a damp firework in a British summer, I approach E1 with my usual blend of optimistic curiosity and a healthy dollop of 'we'll see, won't we?' The electric hearts of those RaceBirds are certainly thrumming with potential.
Image Credit: E1.
The celebrity stardust is undeniably glittery, even if it's sometimes sprinkled a bit thin on the ground at the actual events. The idea of silent, sustainable speed on water is genuinely appealing in a world gasping for cleaner air and quieter weekends; plus, watching these electric darts skim the waves is more entertaining than another reality TV show about people arguing on a desert island. And for that reason alone - I'm on board.
