3 minute read
CHARGING AHEAD
With an X-wing aesthetic and hydrofoil technology, the futuristic all-electric boats in the new E1 SERIES are set to revolutionise the world of competitive powerboating. And the athletes driving them are as green as the tech
Kriss Kyle is not afraid to admit that he’s scared. Terrified, even. Four years ago the 31-year-old, widely recognised as one of the best BMX freestyle riders of his generation, jumped from a helicopter onto the 321m-high Burj Al Arab building in Dubai. Then, on December 2022, he spun front flips in a specially designed skatepark dangling beneath a hot air balloon 640m above the Cotswolds, with only a parachute to protect him. But here, standing barefoot on the beige tiles of a swimming pool in a suburban leisure centre in northern Italy, he is, to use his own blunt idiom, “fucking shitting it”.
The RaceBird is the world's first fully electric powerboat
The object striking terror into this bravest of Scottish hearts is a full-scale fibreglass replica of a racing-boat cockpit, a training device in which Kyle is about to attempt a ‘dunk test’ – a simulated capsize. Upside down, underwater, and strapped into his seat with a five-point harness, he will have to locate the emergency air supply, a scuba regulator, and then remain calm as the cockpit fills with water, allowing him to push open the hatch and escape.
Kyle has never done any kind of diving before. In fact, he says, “I can’t even swim that well”. Why would such a seasoned pro, so comfortable in his own sport and his heavily tattooed skin, subject himself to this kind of torture? As Kyle takes a few minutes to psyche himself up for the task, powerboating coach Claire Toohey, an unflappable 53-year-old from Ireland, explains, “If he doesn’t do it, he doesn’t get in the boat. It’s that simple.”
“The boat” Toohey is referring to is the RaceBird. It’s the world’s first fully electric powerboat, and the first to use hydrofoils – wing-like protrusions that lift the craft clean out of the water as it gathers speed. This futuristic, zeroemissions vehicle – part boat, part X-Wing fighter from Star Wars – forms the basis of E1, a new race series that aims to turn the polluting world of powerboating on its head.
The sheer ‘wow’ factor of the RaceBird, along with its environmental credentials, has helped E1 attract interest from people you wouldn’t associate with boat racing. Tennis megastar Rafa Nadal, all-American quarterback Tom Brady and the Ivorian football legend Didier Drogba have all signed up to be team owners. Red Bull Racing’s Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez is also on board, and shortly before his star turn in front of 1.4 billion compatriots at last year’s World Cup, Indian cricketer Virat Kohli threw his cap into the ring. The championship has even signed up top-selling salsa crooner Marc Anthony and superstar DJ Steve Aoki as team owners. Aoki was persuaded to join in part because his late father raced boats, but mostly because of the spectacle. “When you see these electric powerboats just flying, just hovering, it’s like you’re literally looking into the future,” he says.
