No teams travelled to Monaco. Projects were judged on a 1,500-word dossier and a 20-minute oral defence over Zoom.
30 June – 8 July 2020 · Port Hercule, Monaco
Unable to bring international teams to Monaco because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Yacht Club de Monaco reinvented the 7th edition as a fully virtual event — the first, and so far only, edition held without any boats on the water. 18 teams from 12 nations (7 in Solar Class, 9 in Energy Class, 2 in Open Sea Class) submitted written dossiers and defended their projects over Zoom to an international jury, competing for three prizes plus two ‘Coup de Cœur’ awards instead of the usual on-water races. Source: official YCM press release, 8 July 2020.
Competing teams
Classes
Nationalities
No teams travelled to Monaco. Projects were judged on a 1,500-word dossier and a 20-minute oral defence over Zoom.
The Portuguese team’s hydrogen boat concept, powered by a 5kW fuel cell, impressed the jury in its first year entered in the Energy Class.
The Dutch team, present every year since the Challenge began in 2014, won the Spirit Prize for adapting its project despite a national lockdown.
The Monaco-based E-Racing Team won the Eco Conception Prize for a floating system able to produce hydrogen from seawater using solar and wind power.
Univ. of Bologna, Alma Mater
With no boats able to reach Monaco, the 7th edition put the spotlight entirely on engineering documentation and open-source knowledge sharing. Técnico Solar Boat’s 5kW hydrogen fuel cell concept, competing in the Energy Class for the first time after three prior years in Solar Class, previewed the hydrogen ambitions that would come to define later editions. SBM Offshore’s seawater electrolysis concept — producing hydrogen from solar and wind power at the point of use — anticipated the sustainability criteria that later became the Eco-design Prize. Hynova’s Coup de Cœur-winning hydrogen prototype would go on to win the Open Sea Class outright the following year.
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