Hydrogen-Powered Hydrofoil Bluegame

Quiet and fast Bluegame’s hydrogen-powered hydrofoil will support racers in the America’s Cup.

Bluegame, the Italian shipyard owned by the Sanlorenzo Group, delivered a hydrogen-powered support vessel (BGH-HSV) to American Magic during a recent ceremony in La Spezia.

Hydrogen-Powered HydrofoilEODev

As part of the 37th America’s Cup Protocol, following the Deed of Gift principle where the Defender sets the rules for the next event, Team New Zealand has established strict requirements for the chase boats that will accompany the competing AC75s in September 2024 in Barcelona. The AC Defender has mandated that each team must have at least one hydrogen-powered flying chase boat with 160kW fuel cells. This boat must sustain a cruising speed of 30 knots for at least 150 nautical miles and reach a top speed of 50 knots for over an hour.

Hydrogen-Powered HydrofoilEODev

Several factors drive these specifications.

First, they aim to promote environmental sustainability by encouraging the use of zero-emission boats instead of the traditional internal combustion engine-powered support vessels.

Second, the performance demands—high speed over extended periods—could not be met by battery-only boats, as they would either be too heavy to foil or too underpowered to maintain the necessary performance.

source EODev