E1, world’s first electric raceboat championship, now scouting for Team Performance Engineers

06/07/2023

With six months to go until the RaceBirds compete in the inaugural season of the UIM E1 World Championship, including a stage in Monaco, the event organisers have launched an innovative Engineering Programme to be part of the global celebration of sport and purpose.

With up to 10 teams competing on identical electric raceboats in up to seven races across the Middle East and Europe, the search has been launched for up to eight Team Performance Engineers to support the pilots, crews, and competing teams.

The E1 Team Performance Engineers will oversee the management and analysis of the RaceBird’s data, liaising with drivers to improve performance. Overall, the team engineers will be responsible for the high-level assessment of each RaceBird’s systems and operations on the water.

“Having had the experience of launching two electric racing championships, I know how integral engineering and technology is to a successful championship,” said Rodi Basso, Co-Founder and CEO of E1. “As well as becoming change makers in the marine industry, we want to inspire younger generations to shape our engineers of the future. The young talent in our Engineering Programme will be given an incredible opportunity to become part of an E1 team and gain first-hand experience with competitive racing in season one, which they can then hopefully transfer into sustainable commercial vessels.”

How to apply

STEM students and young professionals from across the world are invited to apply for the positions via the E1 world Championship website. The RaceBird engineering team will also be present at the upcoming Job Forum on July 6th in Monaco, part of the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, where the RaceBird will be on the water at one of the iconic harbours that will be part of the first racing season.

“The Yacht Club de Monaco’s ambition is to be a major player in the drive for sustainability, as evidenced by the annual Monaco Energy Boat Challenge,” said Bernard d’Alessandri, General Secretary and Managing Director of the Yacht Club de Monaco. “Launched a decade ago, today the event is the only one to bring the main industry players together with engineering students to progress alternative propulsion which everyone can discuss in open source.

“Moving forward together is a key element of bringing about environmental transition. Monaco has been at the heart of yachting as early as 1904, when the Principality was already organising the first powerboat meetings. We must move toward more eco-responsible yachting for our planet, our oceans and the new generation.”

There is already an illustrious line-up of team owners with four teams announced so far, led by tennis legend Rafa Nadal, F1 icon Sergio Perez, former Chelsea soccer star Didier Drogba, and the Venice Racing team. More is set to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

SEE ALSO:

Rafael Nadal enters team into E1 championship

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Photo source: E1

Hotel guests in Monaco to pay a tourist tax from 2024

by: Stephanie Horsman

06/07/2023

The “tourist contribution” tax for hotel stays in Monaco made its way through the National Council earlier this week. What will it mean for visitors to the Principality?

The concept of a “tourist tax” isn’t a new one. Levying a small tax on tourists to help contribute to the overall economy of a host country is a practice used by many nations, including Monaco’s closest neighbours of France, Italy and Switzerland.

Monaco, however, had resisted imposing these fees on its visitors until a decision made on 4th July by the National Council changed all that with the passing of bill No. 1048.

How will Monaco’s tourist tax work?

The new legislation, which will come into effect in 2024, concerns any non-domiciled person over the age of 18 staying in a hotel or hotel residence in Monaco. For now, it will not be applicable to those staying in furnished properties, such as an Airbnb, though the National Council is reserving the right to add in this group in due course if deemed appropriate or necessary.

As with any law, there are exceptions to the rule. For example, anyone staying for more than 90 consecutive days will be exempt from the tax. Those who are in the Principality for professional events may also be “partially or totally” exempt.

“It seemed expedient to maintain a certain attractiveness of the establishments of the place within the framework of stays organised for professional group events,” the government declared in a letter addressed to elected officials.

The financial cost of the tax will be fixed annually by decree “according to the category of accommodation, per person and per night of stay, [and] within the limit of €15,” said Franck Julien, who delivered the context of the bill to the assembly and is Monaco’s president of its Finance and National Economy Commission.

It should be noted that €15 is the ceiling for the tax and that, in practice, the fee visitors will be expected to pay will likely be “significantly lower”, according to Jean Castellini, Minister of Finance and the Economy.

As of today, there has been no official protest from local hoteliers, who received word of the plan on 5th June.

As much as €4 million in potential revenue

The 2018 calculations, the data from the year in which this idea was first floated, estimated that the tax could bring in anywhere from €2.5 to €4 million in revenue.

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Photo by Monaco Life

Monaco pledges €3.3 million to Green Climate Fund

by: Elsa Carpenter

06/07/2023

Did you know that Monaco is the biggest contributor per capita to the Green Climate Fund? Now the Principality is stepping up its support with a boost of €3.3 million.

Monaco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, announced on Wednesday 5th July that the Principality would step up its contributions to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) by pledging an extra €3.3 million to its cause.

During the first round of the Fund’s replenishment period between 2020 and 2023, Monaco became the highest contributor per capita in the world.

This latest injection of financial support is a 10% increase on that first commitment.

“This pledge is a demonstration of Monaco’s commitment to supporting climate action in the most vulnerable countries,” said Berro-Amadeï. “It sends a strong signal of Monaco’s confidence in GCF’s ability to deliver transformative impact on the ground and to mobilise funds on a much wider scale.”

Executive Director ad interim for the GCF Henry Gonzalez said, “The Green Climate Fund welcomes Monaco’s contribution to GCF, affirming its commitment to climate finance and its trust in GCF to spur global climate action. We appreciate Monaco’s increased contribution, which signals the level of ambition and momentum for other nations to follow as their contributions are critical for GCF to continue its work of supporting the world’s most climate vulnerable.”

Read more:

Monaco, as largest donor per capita, welcomes UN Green Climate Fund amid world tour

Photo source: Stefano Tanasi, Unsplash

Discover the world through the eyes of Mary Ronayne at Monaco Art Week

by: Elsa Carpenter

06/07/2023

Carefree and blithe at first glance, but rich in allegory and satire when you take a second look, Mary Ronayne’s solo exhibit at YellowKorner certainly stands out from the crowd. Experience her work for yourself at Monaco Art Week.

Mary Ronayne’s solo exhibition at the YellowKorner gallery opened just in time to entice the first avid art lovers descending on the Principality for Monaco Art Week, which began on Tuesday 4th and runs until Sunday 9th July.

Found in the Carré d’Or, at 1 Avenue Henry Dunant, YellowKorner Monte-Carlo has teamed up with House Of Fine Art (HOFA), a London-based gallery, to exhibit the works of this up-and-coming talent, who has come to the Principality on the back of a sell-out show in London.

HOFA has described the Irish-artist’s works as “a tribute to life… even when their undercurrent of Hogarthian satire and allegory are hard to deny”.

This phrase neatly sums up the Irish artist’s unique approach to her subjects, a style somewhat farcical but undeniably charming.

“What she does is quite difficult,” said Francesco Marchiaro, HOFA Marketing Director, during a press tour attended by Monaco Life. “She paints with enamel on wooden boards, so not canvas. It is tricky to paint with this medium because it drips, she needs to paint on a flat surface and it needs to all be done at once before it dries… Once you start, you can’t stop. You can’t fix any mistakes.”

Marchiaro continued, “There’s a lot of symbolism in her pieces, a lot of characters inside, a lot of things happening. The more you look, the more you see.”

The family theme is prominent in her work, but so are historical narratives as well as opera. Ronayne is also known for taking an older portrait and reworking it in her own independent style.

Click on the images below for a snapshot of the exhibit and its preview event…

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e-Boat Rally captures imaginations at the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge

by: Stephanie Horsman

06/07/2023

The opening day of the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge’s 10th edition came off without a hitch, with Prince Albert II on hand and a brand new event to be enjoyed in the form of the inaugural e-Boat Rally.

The Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, which kicked off on Wednesday 5th July, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Since its inception, the eco and tech-focused event has been gathering steam to become the leading occasion for the ecologically-minded yachting world to discover what innovative new ideas are in the works from teams of top engineers and designers from all over the planet.

As President of the Yacht Club de Monaco, Prince Albert II was of course there in person to launch this year’s four-day event, alongside the establishments vice-presidents, Pierre and Andrea Casiraghi. The trio spent a good deal of time on site examining and admiring the entries and talking to competitors.

*Prince Albert photographed in the competing teams’ paddock ahead of the e-Boat Rally. Photo credit: YCM / Studio Borlenghi*

A BRAND NEW EVENT

The first day was marked by the first-ever Yacht Club de Monaco e-Boat Rally, organised in partnership with Aqua superPower. The gathering was a 21-nautical mile endeavour from Monaco to Ventimiglia and back.

“Monaco was the first to recognise the potential of electric propulsion and [its] capacity to transform the yachting industry,” said Luisa Bonello, the co-founder of Aqua superPower. “Aqua supports the Yacht Club de Monaco in its efforts to progress this vision by working with all electric boat brands to create the infrastructure that will make electric boat navigation immediately possible.”

To accommodate the boats, an e-Dock, a specially designed bamboo pontoon equipped with AC and DC chargers able to supply fast power to more than 20 boats at the same time, was unveiled on the waters off the Yacht Club de Monaco. It will act as a fast-charging floating platform for DC compatible boats.

*The 46 teams competing at the inaugural e-Boat Rally raced from Monaco to Ventimiglia and back. Photo credit: YCM / Studio Borlenghi*

FANTASTIC TURNOUT

The event has attracted 46 teams representing 21 countries and 31 universities, who all used a variety of different forms of sustainable power to propel their boats.

“We have 46 teams from prestigious universities, but also companies,” said the chairman of the international jury and the director of EODev, Jérémie Lagarrigue. “This year, we have noticed how involved the yachting industry is and that there’s a close relationship between the two worlds. The students are passionate about what they’re doing and [are as] keen to come up with new solutions as the sector is to meet owners needs for something affordable and reliable. Here you will find a whole range of innovations, particularly relating to hydrogen propulsion, battery storage and solar panels across the three categories: Energy Class, Solar Class and Open Sea Class.”

RACES, CONFERENCES AND MORE

Further races will continue throughout the course of the event, the complete programme for which can be found here.

There are also numerous round tables and conferences, with hot topics such as sustainability and the future of hydrogen power on the schedule. Additionally, the teams themselves will be presenting their projects in a series of “Tech Talks” to the public and any interested parties, where they will discuss their innovations and the technology being used.

A jobs forum and corporate mentoring programme giving students and industry leaders a chance to meet will run alongside the main activities.

*Students from dozens of universities worldwide are participating in this year’s “Tech Talks”. Photo credit: Martin Messmer*

Click on the images below to see more…

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Photos credit: YCM / Studio Borlenghi

Sotheby’s Monaco announces summer exhibitions: Chagall, jewellery and watches

by: Cassandra Tanti

06/07/2023

This summer, Sotheby’s Monaco will play host to a solo exhibition of 22 exceptional works of art by Marc Chagall, shining a spotlight on the artist’s last three decades spent in the south of France, as well as fine jewellery and luxury watches.

Marc Chagall’s life-long love affair with the French Riviera sparked a profusion of joyful imagery and rich colour palettes that enriched the figures that populate his beguiling dreamworlds. From the moment he arrived in Vence in 1949, Chagall was captivated by the Mediterranean light, later choosing to settle permanently in Saint Paul de Vence from 1966 to 1985, having divided his time between Russia and France.

In these works on display from 3rd July to 15th September, all of Chagall’s favourite themes are beautifully evoked – from the embracing couple and the blooming bouquet of flowers to the appearance of the Moon and the donkey – whilst being imbued with light and visibility brightened by the influence of the picturesque region and coastal landscape.

*Chagall’s L Porteur de Croix will form part of Sotheby’s summer exhibition*

Among the key pieces on view is La Sirène au Poète. A quintessentially lyrical work produced in preparation for a lithograph in 1967, it encapsulates Chagall’s love of experimentation and the thorough research he carried out. The central figures – a poet and a siren lost in each other’s gaze – and the double moon are highlighted by the choice of a vivid, contrasting chromatic palette, playing out harmoniously on a large-format.

A further highlight is Le Porteur de Croix, representative of Chagall’s fascination with religion, and particularly the Bible, a source of much inspiration throughout his oeuvre. The work was produced following the publication of the artist’s illustrated Old Testament for legendary art dealer Ambroise Vollard, and harks back to earlier paintings on this theme.

The full list of works on view, all of which were formerly in the artist’s estate, can be found on the website: www.sothebys.com/Monaco.

Contemporary jewellers and more

Alongside the art is a curated edit of luxury pieces available for immediate purchase, including fine jewellery, watches and handbags.

The highlight of the luxury curation is a series of four contemporary jewellery collections by some of the most original and sought-after emerging designers in the world today.

Hannah Martin, Silvia Furmanovich, Lola Fenhirst and MJ Jones are the designers headlining the luxury selling exhibition, contributing nearly 30 pieces collectively that will all be presented for the first time in Monaco.

Beyond the contemporary jewellery selection, the selling exhibition features 10 beautiful fine watches, worth a combined €1.2 million, by Rolex, Patek Philippe and Voutilainen, and several rare handbags by Hèrmes.

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Featured image: Chagall – Gouache préparatoire pour la lithographie d’interprétation Sirène au poète; Hannah Martin – Delirium Trance Amulet; Rolex, 6265, yellow gold chronograph wristwatch with champagne dial, circa 1979, €215,000

By Monaco Life with press release

Day: 6 July 2023