The G.O.A.T. wins on the water too.
By Gregg Mansfield
Anyone who has watched sports on television lately has probably seen the commercial with actor Vince Vaughn talking about a sports gambling app that anyone except legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady can use.
Why? Because the G.O.A.T. wins too much.
Vaughn may have been on to something as Tom Brady’s team won the first UIM E1 World Championship in Jeddah in early February. The world’s first all-electric raceboat championship saw eight teams battle it out on the Red Sea with speeds averaging better than 57 mph.
Hailing from Britain and Finland, Team Brady pilots Sam Coleman and Emma Kimiläinen staged an impressive comeback to beat Day 1 leaders Team Miami, owned by singer-songwriter Marc Anthony. The winning margin was almost 20 seconds with a Team Brady time of 6.58.51.
Cricket superstar Virat Kohli’s Team Blue Rising took third place on the podium.
“We’ve already had a message through from Tom and he’s super happy with the win,” Kimiläinen said. “Both Sam and I are so incredibly proud to represent Tom and we’re pleased we were able to make history at E1’s inaugural race.”
Kimiläinen is a Finnish racing driver who has been competing on the professional motor racing circuit since 2005. Emma has competed in various series such as the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship and W Series, where she finished 5th in her debut season in 2019. Her best W Series finish came in the 2021 season, claiming a place on the podium, finishing third.
Sam Coleman was introduced to powerboat racing in 2013 by his sister Daisy Coleman. The Welshman has gone on to become a house-hold name in the P1 SuperStock class where he has won four World Championships.
The UIM E1 World Championship is an ambitious effort to launch an all-electric raceboat championship. After the event in Jeddah, the league will start up again in May with six additional races on tap.
The fleet consists of eight teams including owner Tom Brady, tennis great Rafael Nadal, international superstar DJ Steve Aoki, African football icon Didier Drogba, billionaire technology entrepreneur Marcelo Claure, F1 superstar Sergio Perez and Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Marc Anthony.
Each team has a male and female pilot and are racing the RaceBird, the first all-electric raceboat with a futuristic design with cutting-edge hydrofoil technology. Organizers said the raceboats operated as expected for the inaugural event.
The league was first announced in 2021 and three years later it’s become a reality for Rodi Basso, co-founder and CEO of E1.
“The past two days of competition have surpassed all expectations and the passion, commitment and spirit shown by all of the team pilots has been incredible,” Basso said. “E1 has firmly landed on the global sporting map, and our next stop Venice is set to be another tremendous event. Huge congratulations to Team Brady for taking home the first ever E1 Championship trophy.”
Alejandro Agag, co-founder and chair of E1, believes the momentum will continue to the league.
“Fantastic. Incredible. Amazing. What a weekend of powerboat racing with packed crowds and close competition between eight amazing racing teams.”
