June 2021
Invitation to the first e-regata in Venice
We invite you to take part in the Venice e-regata, an official event of the 2nd edition of the Venice Boat Show. The event is organised by VeniceAgenda 2028 (VA2028), Triumph Group International, Assonautica Venezia, Associazione Motonautica Venezia and Venti di Cultura, in collaboration with the City of Venice and Vela SA, under the banner of Inland Waterways International (IWI). All these bodies are working together to accelerate the transformation of thousands of boats that navigate in the lagoon, from petrol/diesel engines to zero-emission electric propulsion.
To give new impetus to this transformation, we are proposing a series of events and a competition between electric boats, the biggest ever e-regata. The event will provide all the necessary services to participating boatbuilders. Sponsors will have a unique opportunity to promote their mark and image, while citizens will be presented with a strategy for the sustainable future of the most precious and fragile water city in the world.
Finally, the world will see in Venice not only a precursor of change, however spectacular, but above all as a place for the exchange of skills, and cuttingedge production of boats and services.
The e-regata is a four-day event, open to all types of electric boats (battery, hybrid, solar, fuel cells, etc.). Pure fossil fuel boats are prohibited.
The parade preceding the e-regata will pass through the San Marco basin and the Grand Canal and across the lagoon to Mestre, then returning to the base at the Arsenale, where mooring space is reserved for competitors and their electric and hybrid boats. Some companies will also present their products in the ‘e-Village’ in the stands of the Salone.
The regatta trials and races are organised by Associazione Nautica Venezia and certified by the Italian Motorboat Federation (FIM).
VA2028 will invite members of the IWI Alternative Fuels Committee and experts to a one-day symposium on energy transition in the nautical world, with international boatbuilders, engine manufacturers and experts, and potential organisers of other e-regattas.
Sponsors will contribute to the success of the event, and will receive in return publicity and visibility at different levels depending on the amount contributed. Each competitor will also contribute a symbolic entrance fee of €300. Part of the total proceeds will fund the purchase of a traditional wooden Venetian boat, with electric engine, to be given to an association that provides services to disabled people.
Programme
First day
Public procession of all the boats along the Grand Canal, each with the banner of the event including the following inscriptions under the logo: “Noi siamo elettriche!”or “We are electric!” and “Io non inquino” or “I don’t pollute”.
Craft with spare capacity can take on board local and international guests, and all boats will fly both their national flag and the city’s flag (the Lion of San Marco). The procession is open not only to competitors but to all boats – whether from Venice or anywhere else – with electric or hybrid engines.
Second day
Before the start of the races in front of the public, there will be a general briefing for the team captains, who will sign the attendance register.
a) Morning: “Berlin”-style timed slalom: that is with a linear acceleration in one direction and then, on the return, slalom between seven small buoys spaced over 250 metres. The slalom winner earns 9 points, the second 8 points, etc.
b) E-Ballerina – to demonstrate maneuverability in a confined space, on a short path in front of the public, in an area staked by about five large buoys spaced in the shape of a diamond with a fifth in the centre. Each competitor makes 360 ° turns in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction, making figures in the shape of 8, sideways, controlled reversing, lateral movement and staying still. The competitors will choose a piece of music which they will broadcast on board, to accompany their run, and give an appropriate and coherent scenic sense, in a carefully studied and proven
choreography. Points will be awarded, proportional to the number of passengers on the boat, because more people may make the boat less manoeuverable and less efficient. The execution will be followed by the judges through the overhead video of a drone, and evaluated for precision and elegance: the more complex the manoeuvres, the higher the points.
Third day
Morning: timed bidirectional sprints over 300 or 500 metres with points awarded for passages and trails with low wake/wash emission.
Afternoon: autonomy trial – all the boats come together to take part in a six-hour cruise on the so-called Fasiol circuit behind the Giudecca, with adequate check-points (boats in front of Sacca Fisola, San Clemente and Calle de la Croce). The battery charge of each boat will be measured at the beginning and at the end and will be assessed by the judges. Each boat must carry at least four passengers.
Fourth day
Prize-giving for participants, with Murano glass trophies and cash prizes for the first in each category, and a certificate of participation.
The award ceremony will take place between the two Round Tables organised respectively by Assonautica and IWI’s Alternative Fuels Committee, dedicated to energy transition in the marine industry.
The first will focus on the Italian perspective: evaluation of the event and organisation of the next e-regata, and the next steps in implementing the strategy for zero-emission motors in Venice. Speakers are invited from the City, ACTV, Alilaguna, Veritas,…. The second will look more broadly at energy transition in the marine industry, with international producers and experts and potential organisers of other e-regatas. Among the results could be creation of the Trouvé International Study Centre for sustainable marine motorisation, named after the inventor of the rechargeable-battery electric boat.
Also during the award ceremony, a customised Venetian electric motorboat will be handed over to an association that provides services to disabled people, subject to its costs being covered by the agreed share of the sponsorship monies collected. It will also be a way to bring electric boats into the city’s canals, and thus encourage the whole process towards zero emissions in the lagoon.
Ethical charter
Organisers and participants will be invited to comply with an Ethical Charter, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the e-regata, in particular by acting accordingly in every aspect of their participation in the event. and limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases associated with professional and recreational transport. We want to improve the salt water ecosystem in the lagoon. The Ethical Charter will be part of the participant’s package.
Organisation
The event, supported by the City of Venice and Vela, is an integral part of the 2020 Boat Show. This means space provided free of charge in the Arsenale, in particular serviced moorings in front of the Squadratori building adjacent to a stand of at least 36 m2, both reserved exclusively for organisation of the e-regata.
VeniceAgenda 2028 (VA2028), originator of the concept, and Venti di Cultura (VdC) coordinate the event, managing in particular the relations with participants and Round Table attendees.
Inland Waterways International (IWI) organises participation in international boat shows: Paris in December 2019 and BOOT Düsseldorf in January 2020. It also supports the host of the World Canals Conference in Leipzig in September 2020, and will chair the international round table on 6 June.
Triumph Group International coordinates communication for the event and supports VeniceAgenda 2028 in identifying and engaging with sponsors, who will be assisted by TGI.
Assonautica Venezia will attract Italian participants, while the Associazione Motonautica Veneziana (AMV), in coordination with the Federazione Motonautica Italiana (FIM), will manage the competition itself and all the relevant technical components. Participants will be assisted by AMV.
Assonautica Venezia, in coordination with Assonautica Italia, will be in charge of managing the parade – open to all compatible boats, including boats that are not participating in the e-regata – as well as the Italian Round Table, and Italian participation in the competition.
IWI, Assonautica and AMV entrust the overall organisation to VA2028/VdC and all communications for and around the event to TGI.