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Formula E and Ocean Race teams collaborate for sustainability showcase
Ahead of the start of the Ocean Race’s Leg 3, 11th Hour Racing Team and Formula E team Envision Racing came together to showcase how elite sport can embrace sustainability.
The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, with this particular stint beginning in Cape Town in South Africa, and arriving in Itajaí, Brazil. It is set to be the longest leg in the 50-year history of the race, with teams racing for more than 35 days over 12,750 nautical miles.
Cape Town also provided the backdrop for the most recent Formula E race, with the electric vehicle racing series bound for Brazil at the end of March.
The sailing team’s skipper Charlie Enright and trimmer Justine Mettraux were in attendance with Envision Racing drivers Nick Cassidy and Sébastien Buemi, together with Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer Sylvain Filippi, to go behind the scenes on the team’s 60-foot foiling IMOCA race boat.
In return, Enright and Mettraux joined the racing drivers in the Envision Racing team garage during the Formula E race weekend to outline various sustainable innovations and technologies.
"Sport has a powerful role to play in influencing and inspiring fans to tackle the climate crisis."
Formula E’s latest Gen3 car is the most powerful and efficient electric race car to date, with tyres made from 26% of sustainably sourced materials. Linen is interwoven into the carbon fibre body to reduce weight, increase strength and be more circular. It is net zero by design and it is also hoped that the car can be recycled at the end of its life.
On the yachting side, the 11th Hour Racing Team has used more than 100kg of alternative materials in the design of the boat, including flax, bamboo and bio-materials.
Envision Racing’s Filippi 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’s been fantastic to hear from the members of 11th Hour Racing Team today 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.”
Image: Amory Ross/11th Hour Racing