The race that kicked off the Racebird electric boat championship devised by Alejandro Agag (Formula E, Extreme E) and Rodi Basso (engineer with a background in Formula One) finally took place in Jeddah. Racer Vicky Piria of the “Sergio Perez E1 Team” and test driver and driver of the nascent “Venice Racing Team” Gianluca Carli share their firsthand experiences.
In many respects, the E1 Series represents a disruptive innovation in the world of powerboat racing. The RaceBird is a boat with carbon foils of about 7 meters in length designed by Sophi Horne (SeaBird Technologies) and Brunello Acampora (founder and CEO of Victory Marine).
News
Clean electric propulsion and foil technology—with low wave production—will allow racing in all kinds of locations while generating minimal impact: Venice, one of the upcoming stages (May 12, 2024), is a case in point. Not only that, it will be possible for competitions to be held very close to the shore and spectators, thus maximizing the show.
Another new feature is mixed crews: two pilots, male and female, will take turns with the same boat against other teams. The race format includes practice sessions, qualifying, finals, and a superfinal in which four boats at a time will compete over two days.
Ranking of the first stage
In the first leg of the UIM E1 World Championship held on February 3 in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), “Team Brady”, a team led by former American football player Tom Brady with its two drivers, Finland’s Emma Kimiläinen and England’s Sam Coleman, won. Second place went to “Team Miami powered by Magnus”; third place to “Team Rafa”; fourth place to “Team Blue Rising”; fifth place to “Sergio Perez E1 Team” with Italian racer Vicky Piria and Spanish racer Dani Clos.
INTERVIEW WITH VICKY PIRIA (FEBRUARY 12, 2024)
You had some difficulties in Jeddah qualifications; what happened?
Unfortunately, we took a penalty for Jump Start: we make jump starts with a countdown (dashboard and via radio), and it was the first time we tried… There has been some confusion!
How was your race? And what experience do you take home from the Jeddah race?
The race was short but intense—a continuous discovery of both driving techniques and strategy. We will have to work even harder as a team to have an effective strategy and limit mistakes as much as possible.
Are you satisfied with your fifth-place finish?
We are not fully satisfied… Our goal was at least to get into the superfinal and then into the top four positions. We know we are very fast, but we were not able to get the result we deserved.
How do you determine in which round you run and in which Dani?
As a team, we can choose who starts only in the first set, and from there, we alternate until the end; you cannot know who you will run with until the start of the set as decisions are revealed at the last moment. It is all random; there is no difference between men and women: in my set, I was the only girl!
What do you expect from the race in Venice?
A unique and truly special event. There will be new conditions: we will not be in a protected bay but will be running around an island, so waves will be a new factor. We expect the podium!
How did you get to the E1 RaceBird championship?
By chance. I had heard about it and inquired out of curiosity: they were looking for racers, and, after a successful selection, I did specific training. The training was at Lake Maggiore, very close to where I live.
Will you run in all the races?
Yes. We started in Jeddah in February and will close in November in Hong Kong.
You have a history of car racing, had you ever raced in boats before as well?
No, except for a few summer boating experiences. This is all new to me—a very big surprise. I am learning, I can see that my riding style is evolving, and I am happy with my progression. There are many things to work on: how to best use lift, trim, position the boat, lines and trajectories, etc. The boat is new; we are all learning together.
Are there aspects of competition in RB comparable to car racing?
Certainly, the speed is felt more on a race car, partly due to the fact that in a car, we can easily reach 300 km/h, while on the RB, the top speed is about 100 km/h. The feelings, however, are very similar, starting with the approach to the medium. The way I mentally prepare for a qualification and then a race is the same way I used to prepare for races on the track.
There are similarities in the choice of trajectories on both mediums. There are, of course, also many differences: for example, following another boat in disturbed water creates problems that are not encountered in a car.
What kind of emotions is aroused by “flying” with foils above the surface of the water?
The feeling is really that of flying…. It is beautiful; it gives you an absolute sense of freedom. The work to achieve balance on foils is very challenging, it always feels like being on eggs! The feeling of speed is slightly mitigated by being enclosed within a cockpit that looks like that of a jet plane.
The formula 1 driver of Red Bull Racing has broadened his horizons from Grand Prix track racing and has created his own team to compete in Racebird electric boat races. “Checo” Perez will be the team owner of the Mexico team.
The team: racers Vicky Piria and Dani Clos, team principal Alfonso (Picho) Toledano, athletic trainer Steward Wild, commercial director Alvaro Buenaventura, logistics manager Giuliana Martinez, and mechanics Ricardo Castillo Flores and Orlando de Jesús Ledezma Pedroza.
Vicky Piria
Born in 1993, she has lived with motors since she was a child. She has had an intense career, from go-karts to single-seaters to Grand Touring cars with which, in the very last 2023 season, she collected two wins and a second place in the endurance championship. The only Italian driver to be selected in the world for the WSeries women’s world championship, she has cultivated important experiences and results, racing in the United States up to the Monte Carlo GP. She has worked as a TV presenter and columnist, becoming an important face in the Italian Automotive.
INTERVIEW WITH GIANLUCA CARLI (FEBRUARY 6, 2024)
How does your story as a racer meet this particular craft?
I was called to test and fine-tune the RB. I am also a racer of the nascent “Venice Racing Team.” which unfortunately failed to participate in the first race due to the non-involvement of an international celebrity. Nonetheless, we are working hard to be ready to go in the next scheduled challenges.
Can you tell us about your experience as a tester?
Since I first took to the water with the first prototype, many things have been fine-tuned: the carbon foils have evolved a lot, and the electronics have also improved and become lighter.
You have piloted monohulls and catamarans at every level. What are the differences with the RB?
It is a different riding technique from a classic offshore: you have to go back to school, learn foils management, how to curve, etc. It takes a lot of feel (and experience) to effectively manage flying on foils and not falling off. The noise of the boat sounds almost like that of a flying saucer; it makes a peculiar hissing sound. A satisfying and evolving boat…
What is the most effective way to drive the RB?
The boat needs to remain as stable in the air as possible, although in a race it may happen that contact or something else can bring it down. Although the height of the “V” from the water is 20-30 cm, when you fall from the foils you can feel it! In the event, it is imperative that the boat restarts on the foils quickly.
At the buoy, I learned how to “hook” the foils in the turn without tilting the boat, so as to avoid falls and trying to lose as little speed as possible. On entering the turn there is a tendency for the nose of the E1 to drop, which I compensate for with the quick trim control: the bow rises and so the boat remains well balanced.
How do the trim and lift controls work?
The foot trim with the foil works and rises like that of a recreational boat outboard. The lift lifts the engine with the foot through the jack plate or power lift: a jack plate between the transom and the engine itself.
Do electronics help you in your setups?
There are no electronics for automatic attitude management; it is all in the hands and skill of the driver.
Considerations on speed and range?
The battery packs last about 45 minutes. From a speed standpoint for now we are far from those of offshore boats, but it feels like flying.
From the security point of view, how does it work?
We have a canister of air behind the seat with a nozzle attached to the wall that you just pull out in case of an accident or rollover.
VRT is an Italian team founded to compete in the E1 Series championship with RaceBird boat.
From an insight of entrepreneur Francesco Pannoli (Business Development), the Venice Racing Team came to life, joined by Claudio Iannelli (Chief Technology Officer), offshore champion and racing expert Luigi Radice (Crew Chief), motorsport expert Eugenio Razelli (Chairman), François Richard (Business Development) and Nicolò Muraro (Chief Communications Officer). Male driver of the team will be Venetian Gianluca Carli, the female driver has not yet been identified.
Gialuca Jr Carli
Venetian, born in 1990, has been receiving a strong nautical education since childhood. Thanks to his father, a historic Venetian canoeist, he played sports where water and boats were a must. The spark with the offshore world struck as early as age five when he first attended the Championships at Lake Auronzo. A year later, he began running in junior championships, achieving excellent results.
Today, he is a leading participant in the most important championships worldwide, such as the 3-liter and XCat 3D. He holds the all-time record for the first driver to win a solo championship without a co-driver. He won the 69th Pavia-Venice Raid in the f2 class. He is one of four drivers who participated in the simulation of the first E1 race in Rotterdam.
The boat is steered with a Formula 1-style multi-control steering wheel:
- Purple button: boost, for a few seconds it delivers more power
- Blue button: radio
- Red and white buttons: lift in continuous direct control (paddles for millimeter step controls for the lift can be glimpsed behind the steering wheel)
- Orange and green buttons: continuous direct trim control (behind the steering wheel, similarly, are millimeter-step paddles for trim).
Bottom:
- White knob: maps for the ECU
- Blue knob: trim speed
- Red and black knobs: have functions programmable by team engineers according to the racer’s needs. There is no throttle for adjusting engine speed, but a pedal like in a single-seat car. On the displays, you can read engine RPM, speed, battery charge, flight height, trim height, lift height, rotoscope (boat tilt) and many other parameters. To the left is the circuit map. On either side of the steering wheel, camera screens act as rearview mirrors.
