E Boat Racing: Rafael Nadal is E1’s Latest Team Owner

• by Kris Cook
• January 10, 2023
• 2 min read

The tennis legend is sure to bring a lot of eyes to the electric boat racing league during its highly anticipated inaugural season.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion is taking to the seas © Credit to E1

There’s making waves and there’s cannonballs, and news that Rafael Nadal will own his own team at the upcoming E1 is most certainly a cannonball.

The UIM E1 World Electric Powerboat Series is a budding championship racing league created specifically for electric boats, brought to fruition 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.

The league initially launched in 2020 to not only offer something exciting to watch/follow, but to simultaneously promote sustainable marine technology.

In February of 2021, E1 announced it had partnered with SeaBird Technologies and Victory Marine to develop, manufacture, and assemble the RaceBird – the electric boat that will eventually compete in the E1 World Championship Series.

This was quickly followed by news in April of 2022 that Venice had become the first city to establish its very own E1 racing team.

Today, Spain joins the chase and will be led by the 22-time Grand Slam champion, Rafael Nadal.

Rafa’s RaceBird design for Team Spain is lush © Credit to E1

“I’m really excited to be getting involved with a project like E1 that values sustainability and will make a positive impact on society as a whole, especially in coastal communities,” said Nadal.

“I also like the fact that E1 has a clear mission and is committed to preserving marine ecosystems. As a professional athlete, I recognise how making marginal gains has a positive impact on performance.

To see this same competitive spirit and approach being applied at E1 to optimise the performance and efficiency of sustainable marine mobility is good news for our oceans.”

Nadal’s team will compete against a stacked list of competitors, such as Mexico, which is owned by another familiar face in Sergio Perez, a driver in the Formula 1.

It’s worth noting that only three times have signed up so far, and with 10-12 spots available, coupled with this news, these are almost guaranteed to fill up.

We’ve been loosely following E1 since its official reveal, but never in a million years did we consider a scenario like this. Give us your reaction via social media.

Kris Cook

Hey, I’m Kris, a Junior Content Strategist at E4TP. At the moment I live in the world of EVs, keeping up on current trends in the space, and delivering quality content. I’m a creative type both inside and outside of work, in that I write poetry in my spare time, design independent zines, and paint. When I’m not knee deep in any of that, I collect vinyl (my collection has around 150 LPs in it), and enjoy spending time with pals outdoors, mostly on a bike — or in another country.

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