Teams from Italy and Croatia dominated the major events at the 13th Monaco Energy Boat Challenge. Italy won the Energy Class race, while India’s Kumaraguru College took home the Euro 25,000 Sustainable Yachting Technology Award.
Monte Carlo, [मोनाको]July 14 (ANI): Teams from Italy and Croatia dominated the major events at the four-day 13th Monaco Energy Boat Challenge at the Yacht Club of Monaco. In this competition, 54 teams from 21 countries participated in Energy, AI, SeaLab and Open Sea Experience classes.
Italy’s dominance in energy class
In the Energy Class Endurance Race, one of the toughest tests of the week and lasting approximately three hours, Italy’s Elettra Unizi team from the University of Genoa finished in first place, completing 79 laps. He defeated his own country’s team, Physis-Polimi Energy Boat, which also completed 79 laps but finished the race almost three minutes later. The Argonauts team of the University of Bologna finished third with 76 corrected laps after penalties. Four of the top five places at this event were taken by Italian universities, showing their strength in the energy class this season. In this class, teams from 26 universities compete with standardized electric, hydrogen and solar powered boats.
Croatia won in AI class
In the Pilotless AI class, where boats navigate using onboard sensors and neural networks without any human intervention, Croatia’s Adria Autonomous Boat team had the best performance. The team won the docking race in 39.27 seconds, with Austria’s TGM Solar Boat Team in second and Belgium’s Ugent Sailing in third. The team then achieved a best time of 44.44 seconds in the figure 8 race, in which again TGM came second and Ugent Selling third. These results further extend Adria’s strong start in a category that has grown rapidly since its debut in 2025, with 11 teams competing this year.
New record in speed record
In the highlight of the event, the YCM Speed Record, the Froscher x Porsche 790 Specter set a new benchmark for the challenge with an average speed of 51.05 knots on the one kilometer course. This broke the previous record of 49.84 knots, which was held by Frosher x Porsche. In the Open Sea Experience category, XNRG.Tech’s XNRG8.3 took second place with an average speed of 45.33 knots, while Taiga’s Orca P2 came in third.
University of Bologna ahead in SeaLab class
In the SeaLab class, which challenges university teams to design boats around emerging energy structures such as hydrogen, methanol and hydrofoiling systems, Italy’s Red Wave, representing alma mater Studiorum of the University of Bologna, maintained a provisional lead in the week-long competitions. The University of Bologna enters this year’s Challenge as the most successful program in the event’s history, having won four of the last five Energy Class titles overall.
Mixed results for Indian teams
India’s presence in this year’s challenge had mixed results. Kumaraguru College of Technology won the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Sustainable Yachting Technology Award for the battery thermal management system developed by its student team. This is the event’s top honor of €25,000. This is the institute’s first win in this category after five years of participation. Meanwhile, Team C Shakti’s campaign in the Energy Class race was cut short due to engine failure. The setback came just days after the team’s best-ever endurance finish, which saw it finish 11th out of 16 teams.
Challenge Overview and Rewards
A record 54 teams from 21 countries participated in this year’s Challenge, including first-time entries from a university from the United States and a delegation from China. Additionally, established European programs from Italy, France, Spain, Croatia and Germany also delivered strong performances. In addition to the on-water competitions, the event’s international jury also awards awards for innovation, eco-design and communication, including the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation Sustainable Yachting Technology Award, the Challenge’s top honor of €25,000. (ANI)
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