TU Delft Hydro Motion Team wins endurance race with hydrogen boat in the Monaco World Championship

Last week, in the ninth edition of the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team competed against commercial companies from all over the world. As a hydrogen boat racing with mostly electric boats, the team won the endurance race with a huge margin. In the race, contestants had to sail as much distance as possible for four hours. The team sailed almost twice as much distance as the second place. This impressive victory proved the potential of hydrogen for the maritime industry.

Second place in the world championship

Every year the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge takes place at the beginning of July. During this competition, sustainably powered boats compete for the world championship. The team competed in the Open Sea Class which consisted of three challenges: manoeuvrability, speed, and endurance. Points were awarded according to the ranking in each race. The team gained the highest overall points becoming the world championship in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge.

With the victory in the endurance race and second place in the manoeuvrability race, the team gained second place in the world championship. The team was extremely proud of this achievement. “The whole team has worked incredibly hard towards this competition. In just one year, we built a boat to race against commercial companies, and we eventually won second place. This is unbelievable!" said Louis Van Cauwenberghe, the pilot of the boat.

Hydrogen: the future of sustainable shipping

Of all seven teams, the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team was one of the only two teams that used hydrogen power, while the rest utilized electric propulsion. Hydrogen is an emerging energy source in the maritime sector. The student team has delved into hydrogen and applied it in their boat this year. "The major advantage of hydrogen over batteries is that we can carry much more energy in a more compact space," says Shayan Farrokhi, our Chief Powertrain, “if you want to sail the same distance using an electric boat, that boat needs to spare much more space to carry batteries that store the same amount of energy as our hydrogen boat.”

The team has certainly proven that you can sail a greater distance with hydrogen. The team's success highlights that hydrogen could be the future of sustainable shipping.

TU Delft Hydro Motion Team

The TU Delft Hydro Motion Team consists of 25 students from eleven different studies at TU Delft. In one year, the team went through the entire process of designing, producing, testing, and finally racing a hydrogen boat. Since its establishment in 2005, the team has been inspiring the maritime sector to sail with sustainable energy. This year, the team explored the possibilities of hydrogen. “We show that it is possible to build a hydrogen boat in one year. We believe the maritime industry can achieve rapid change like this too!” said Sophie van 't Hoff, the Team Manager.

Source: TU Delft hydro motion team