Published on: 03 June 2021
Nominations are now open for The Gustave Trouvé Awards for Excellence in Electric Boats and Boating, the international award that was launched in 2021 by electric boat website Plugboats.com.
Nominations are being accepted in four categories: Electric Boats Under 8 metres/26 feet, Electric Boats Over 8m/26 ft, Electric Boats Designed for Paying Passengers and, new for this year, Customised/DIY Electric Boats.
The awards were created to recognise the inventors, designers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs and visionaries who are making advances every day to develop clean, quiet, zero-emission technologies and designs to reduce reliance on fossil fuel for marine propulsion.
They are named to honour Gustave Trouvé, a prolific French inventor with over 75 patents to his name, who was awarded the Légion d’Honneur in 1882. Among his innovations was the world’s first outboard boat motor, which he devised so that he could detach the motor from his prototype electric boat ‘Le Teléphone’ and take it home to work on in his Paris apartment.
While M. Trouvé’s invention predates the 1887 patent of the internal combustion engine, and electric boats have been available since the early 20th century, it is not until recently that they have entered the mainstream marine market.
‘The Gussies’, as the awards are known in the electric boat world, are the only international boating awards that focus exclusively on electric boats and boating.
Winners are selected through a combination of online public voting and weighted voting by a panel of industry experts from: the Electric Boat Associations of the UK, USA, France, Greece, Canada and Switzerland; the Alternate Fuels Committee of Inland Waterways International; and the Venice Agenda 2028 and e-Regatta.
Jeff Butler, Editor of Plugboats and founder of the Awards, comments: “The first year of The Gussies saw over 10,000 votes from electric boat enthusiasts all over the world. With interest in electric propulsion growing literally by the day, I expect many more this year.”
The 2020 Awards had 50 boats nominated from 19 countries with the winning boats hailing from France, Singapore and India. Members of the public are welcome to nominate any electric boat and can find the qualifying criteria on the online nominating page of Plugboats.
Nominations opened on 26 May, which was the 140th anniversary of Le Télephone’s first trip down the Seine River in 1881. Nominations for The Gussies close on 16 June, voting will select which six boats in each of the four categories will move on to the finals, and final voting will begin on 6 July to decide the winners. Winners will be announced on 27 July – the 118th anniversary of Trouve’s death in 1902.
To nominate a boat for the 2021 Awards, please visit the Plugboats website.
