MEBC Invites Commercial Boats to Compete in Monaco Race

• by Kris Cook
• December 7, 2022
• 2 min read

The Yacht club de Monaco has invited owners of electric boats to compete in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge (MEBC) for the very first time.

Boats, boats, and more boats © Credit to Monaco Energy Boat Challenge

The Monaco Energy Boat Challenge is a rising phenomenon, a competition that pits Solar, Energy, and Open Sea Classes against one another à la Wacky Races or the infamous Gumball 3000.

To celebrate its 10th race competition, the Yacht club de Monaco is inviting commercially available electric boats to compete in the competition for the very first time.

This new ‘commercial electric boat‘ rally will join the other classes already in place, the goal being:

To host the world’s largest gathering of electric maritime vessels.

MEBC began back in 2014 but was limited to just the Solar Class competing across the harbour waters around Monaco.

Three years later, the Open Sea Class was added to showcase long-distance water travel, with races going from Monaco to Ventimiglia, Italy, and back again.

In 2018, the Energy Class was added, allowing competitors to show off their clean-air propulsion technology (hydrogen-powered boats were also added).

The yacht club’s General Secretary Bernard d’Alessandri said the following to Plug Boats on this announcement:

“Monaco has always been a yachting mecca and pioneer. To celebrate ten years of the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge we want to demonstrate that non-fossil fuel technology exists and is efficient and effective.

What better way to do this than to organise the world’s biggest meeting of electric vessels with a target record participation of 55+ boats.”

Who signs up to take part is still unknown, all we know is that sign-ups are expected to run until March.

One name we know will be there is Aqua superPower, the marine charging network that intends to showcase its E-Dock — a floating bamboo pontoon equipped with AC marine chargers.

Nominees for the races will be announced in March with the event taking place from July 3rd to the 8th.

Below you’ll find a highlight reel from the most recent MEBC race, check it out:

We’re looking into actually attending this event ourselves (any excuse to go to Monaco really). Who would you like to see compete, and have you caught any of the previous MEBC races?

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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