On Sunday 28 April, our skipper Fabrice Amedeo was on the starting line for “The Transat”, the historic transatlantic race from Lorient to New York. As well as competing to win, this race will be another opportunity for him to test and improve the reliability of the energy system equipping the boat. The aim? To complete the next Vendée Globe without relying on fossil fuels.

This effectively is a challenge within a challenge: completing a round-the-world race solely on the strength of the wind and using only solar energy to recharge the boat's batteries. 

Hager Group and E3DC support this impressive undertaking, with the aim of promoting the transition to low-energy consumption by applying our solutions and expertise in building energy management to Fabrice Amedeo's project.

Working closely with his technical teams, we helped to develop an energy production and storage system to meet the objectives and requirements of Fabrice's challenge. Comprising a battery bank with a capacity of 2x 200 ampere-hours, 15 m2 of solar panels and a system of hydro-generators, this system will last up to 36 hours without enough wind or sunlight to generate relevant amounts of energy. 

The double crossing of the Atlantic between France and New York, which is being sailed in much more demanding weather conditions than those of the last Transat Jacques Vabre, will provide a further test of the boat's ability to charge the batteries solely on solar energy and hydro-generators in preparation for the next Vendée Globe. 

This challenge of a low-carbon race is made even trickier by the fact that the oceanographic sensors on board the boat (CO2, salinity, temperatures, microplastics, environmental DNA) increase onboard consumption by 15%.

Fabrice Amedeo commented after the 2023 races: "The two Atlantic crossings in 2023 have proved conclusive. Solar energy now enables us to produce 100% of our energy, even in low-pressure conditions. Our project is more consistent than ever with the goal of completing the Vendée Globe without fossil fuels. In a way, we're going to be the Solar Impulse of the next Vendée Globe!

We're looking forward to following our skipper's progress during this race.