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"Quentin Express": Energy Observer Foundation and France SailGP Team join forces to promote low-carbon mobility

Departing from Barcelona on September 6th, France SailGP Team has set itself a challenge: to reach the next championship destination using only low-carbon mobility. An awareness-raising operation in collaboration with the Energy Observer Foundation, that aims to reduce the scope 3 of sports events.

Focus area

1 Act for energy transition

External links

The low-carbon mobility challenge

September marks one of the most emblematic races for the France SailGP Team, as it is the only French leg of this international championship.

For season 4, the French crew has set itself a major challenge: to reach Saint-Tropez using a variety of low-emission and accessible means of transport.

The "Pékin Express"-style journey will set off from Barcelona on September 6. Nîmes, Marseille, and Sainte-Maxime will all be stops along the way, enabling the team's supporters to accompany them and team members to meet people involved in the energy transition.

With the Impact League, the podium for the planet, all teams play along the rules. Beyond the sustainable approach, the competitive aspect encourages the teams to find solutions or to do things differently.

Quentin Delapierre,
France SailGP team driver

Program

September 6th

🚲 🛴 8 am: Departure from Barcelona to Barcelona train station on electric bikes and scooters

🚄 10:20 am: Journey to Marseille by Train with a 1h10 change at Gare de Nîmes
👥📍Meet the French team in the bar car during the journey!

🛺 4:40 pm: Heading for the Hôtel Novotel Vieux Port in Marseille by foot, bike, or in electric vehicles (cargo bike, electric bike, electric car, etc.)
👥📍Meet the French SailGP team on arrival at Gare Saint-Charles and help them reach their next destination (bikes and other means of transport are welcome!).

🏃🏻🏃‍♀️ 5:15 pm: Walk to the Catalans beach in Marseille for a "Beach Clean Up" operation with the Pure Océan association and the Accor group (All.com).

🌊 6:25 pm: Pure Ocean debriefs: Participants are invited to bring together the waste collected to weigh it, characterize it, and detail how it will be treated.

September 7th

🚙 06:00 am: Departure from the Novotel Vieux Port hotel for Sainte-Maxime in a hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai

⛵️ 07:45 am: Travel to Saint-Tropez by sailboat and/or electric boat

⚡️ 08:00 am: Arrival at the SailGP Tech Base and start-up of GEH2® electro-hydrogen generators to power the technical base.

Quentin Express

Quentin Express © Energy Observer Foundation x France SailGP Team

Decarbonizing high-level motorsports

SailGP is a crewed sailing competition consisting of several round-the-world races, including a French leg held every year in St-Tropez. For several years now, this sporting challenge has been redoubling its efforts to reduce the impact of its events. It was with this determination to take concrete action that SailGP created the Impact League, the foundation on which Team France and the Energy Observer Foundation have sealed their Race for the Future partnership.

Since April 2021, the French team and our endowment fund have been teaming up to explore concrete solutions and accelerate change towards a clean and responsible future, while raising awareness through its global platform of the challenges of an ecological transition around renewable energies and hydrogen.

Scope 3, at the heart of environmental challenges

A pioneer in the decarbonization of major events (Le Mans 24 hours, F1 Grand Prix, festivals, film shoots), and thanks to the technologies it has developed on its catamaran, Energy Observer will enable the French SailGP Grand Prix to reduce its direct emissions - a first for a motor sport!

However, it's usually indirect emissions, in particular those linked to the mass movement of spectators, that are the main source of pollution during major events. SailGP France and Energy Observer are joining forces to prove that this reality is not inescapable, and that there are many accessible solutions for adopting environmentally-friendly modes of transport and living out one's passions to the full!

To go further (sources mainly in French)