The world’s first electric boat racing series has been teasing its forthcoming schedule for over a year, and it has finally arrived… although it’ll start a tad later than expected. The UIM E1 World Championship Series has unveiled its official race calendar, which will begin in Saudi Arabia and continue through several beautiful coastal cities in Europe.
The UIM E1 World Championship is a developing electric boat racing series created by Formula E and Extreme E founder, Alejandro Agag, and Rodi Basso – a former director of Motorsport at McLaren with a background in Formula 1 engineering.
We’ve been covering the young marine sports series for over a year as its inaugural season has been consistently promised to begin in 2023. Most of our recent coverage has involved new team owners, including tennis great Rafael Nadal and most recently, renowned footballer Didier Drogba.
During those team updates, E1’s founders have consistently teased a calendar of the forthcoming E1 races across various marine-centric cities around the globe, but we had yet to see it. To date, we’ve only known that Rotterdam, Netherlands was in play following a contract signing in September of 2022.
Venice has also been highly anticipated as a potential race location on the inaugural E1 calendar as the city sponsored the series’ first ever team. Plus, you know… it’s surrounded by water. Today, the growing league has a (relatively) set race schedule that will kick off in early 2024.
E1 Series kicks off race calendar in Jeddah
Earlier today, the UIM E1 World Championship Series shared its official race calendar and explained how the world’s first electric boat races will work. Due to the unique foiling of the RaceBirds (the electric boats designed for E1), the races must take place close to shore. This will allow spectators to catch the full action of each race safely from the land.
Each E1 race event on the calendar will take place over the course of two days consisting of practice sessions, qualifying rounds, and knock out races to determine the winner. RaceBird pilots will compete head-to-head in multiple heats with the fastest teams advancing until a winner is crowned.
Those excited about E1’s inaugural season will have to wait a bit longer however, as the first race – last mentioned as coming in late 2023 – has now been pushed to January 2024. Here’s the full E1 calendar to date:
- January 2024 – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- February 2024 – TBD, Middle East
- April 2024 – Venice, Italy
- May 2024 – Venice, Italy
- June 2024 – TBD, Europe
- July 2024 – Monaco
- September 2024 – Rotterdam, Netherlands
The delay in the start of the inaugural season calendar could benefit the E1 Series, since, as we’ve previously pointed out, it needs more teams. To date, there are only four confirmed teams (Venice, Mexico, Team Nadal/Spain, and Team Drogba/Ivory Coast). Previously, the E1 Series founders have said that at least ten teams will compete. E1 cofounder and CEO Rodi Basso spoke:
It’s a fantastic day for the UIM E1 Championship as we confirm our first ever racing calendar. After opening the racing in the Middle East, the action will move to Europe where we will be racing in the historic and beautiful harbours of Venice and Monaco, before culminating in the vibrant port of Rotterdam. We keep the door open on new venues for the calendar and expect to confirm very soon. It’s an exciting time for the UIM E1 Championship as we attract more teams and cities to be part of our fast-growing journey.
According to the new racing league, more teams will be announced soon. We will be sure to keep you in the loop as we approach race one in Jeddah next year. Looking forward to it!
Author: Scooter Doll
Source: Electrek
