Formula E’s Envision Racing Team and The Ocean Race’s 11th Hour Racing Team came together in South Africa last month to showcase elite sport and sustainability.
To mark the occasion of the 2023 Cape Town E-Prix in February, Formula E team Envision Racing, part of the world’s first-ever net zero carbon sport, and 11th Hour Racing Team, which sails in the world’s longest and toughest sporting event, The Ocean Race, came together to showcase how elite international sport and sustainability can powerfully co-exist.
Combining ‘racing and reason’, Envision Racing drivers Nick Cassidy and Sebastien Buemi together with Envision Racing Managing Director and CTO, Sylvain Filippi, joined 11th Hour Racing Team skipper, Charlie Enright (USA), and trimmer, Justine Mettraux (SUI) to discuss the pioneering sustainability initiatives each team and sport are engaged with while getting to grips with sailing a 60-foot, state-of-the-art foiling IMOCA race boat.
Enright and Mettraux then joined the Envision team in their garage as they prepped for the historic race in South Africa, which eventually saw both Envision drivers score points finishes.
Similar to Formula E’s latest GEN3 car – the fastest, lightest, most powerful and efficient electric race car ever made – the 11th Hour Racing Team boat operates with cutting edge sustainable technology and innovations onboard, while the team champions broader initiatives around the importance of ocean health for the future of our planet.
While the GEN3 race car’s tyres are made from 26% of sustainably sourced materials; has linen interwoven into the carbon fibre body work to reduce weight, increase strength and be more circular, is net zero by design and can be fully recycled at its end of life, 11th Hour Racing Team has integrated more than 100kg of alternative materials into its construction including flax, bamboo and bio-materials, to drive change within the sailing industry and push forward recommendations for regulations to reduce the sport’s impact on the planet.
Commenting on time spent with 11th Hour Racing Team, Sylvain Filippi, Managing Director and CTO of Envision Racing, said: “Sport has a powerful role to play in influencing and inspiring fans to tackle the climate crisis. Both on and off the track and through our unique platform Race Against Climate Change™ – Envision Racing is passionate about making the transition to e-mobility and renewable energy a global reality.
“It was fantastic to hear from the 11th Hour team on their sustainability actions and for us, it underlines how vital it is that more sporting bodies work together to raise awareness and help influence behaviour change.”
Charlie Enright from 11th Hour Racing Team also commented: “Despite us racing on water and Sébastian and Nick racing on land, it is always fascinating to see so many similarities. Both sports are endurance, high-tech, performance-driven, and with sustainable innovation at the heart of what we all do.
“At 11th Hour Racing Team we are focused on reducing our impact on the planet, driving innovation within the marine industry, and supporting organisations that directly address local solutions to the global problems of climate change. We can all learn from each other – and meeting with the Envision Racing Team has been a lot of fun.”
The 2023 Cape Town E-Prix was the first ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race to be held in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thousands of fans packed the grandstands and millions more around the world tuned in to watch the race live on TV, as Nick Cassidy eventually came away with a third place finish against the spectacular backdrop of Table Mountain.
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship circuit in Cape Town proved to be one of the season’s fastest tracks. The flowing lines of the new street circuit were certainly a true test for the GEN3, which is capable of reaching 322kph from 600kW of total power and sees more than 40% of the energy used actually created during the race itself via regenerative braking.
11th Hour Racing Team set off on Leg 3 of The Ocean Race 2022-23 the day after the Formula E event finished, embarking on the longest leg in the 50-year history of the race. The team will race its IMOCA 60 race boat for over 35 days (top speed 40 miles per hour!) over 12,750-nautical mile (14,672-miles/23,613-kilometers) through the Southern Ocean – with the final destination being Itajaí, Brazil.
Fans across Europe can enjoy live and on-demand coverage of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and The Ocean Race on Eurosport, the Eurosport App and Discovery+.