A 14-foot electric boat owned by Princeton Electric Speedboating (PES) of New Jersey’s Princeton University will attempt to break the electric boat world speed record this Thursday, Oct. 26, at a private, APBA-sanctioned kilo run in North Carolina.

The boat—a 14-foot canopied hydroplane built in 1993 by the late Edward Karelsen—is powered by a 200-hp electric engine built by PES in partnership with Flux Marine. It will be piloted by John Peters of Black Sheep Racing, who previously drove the gas-powered version of the boat and has been testing it in its electric configuration.

The kilo run is being held on Lake Townsend, a 1,542-acre reservoir in Greensboro, NC, near Raleigh. Andrew Robbins of Princeton Electric tells Speedboat that the boat will be able to accelerate for about a mile before the actual course begins. After the course is completed, Peters will make a pass in the opposite direction. Officials will then average the speeds in both directions for a final speed.

"We'll be testing right up until the kilo run, but we've had the boat up near record pace already," he says. "It's running pretty good, and we're really happy with it." Top speed of the boat? "We're aiming for 120 mph."

As of today, there are two existing records. The first was a 19’ Formula One boat run by the Jaguar Vector team in 2018, whose record stands at 88.6 mph. Recently, Vision Marine participated in a point and shoot run at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout this year, during which they achieved 116 mph, the team also ran a kilo course however the run was not certified due to timing equipment troubles. "We're looking to take down both of those," Robbins says.

For more information and to watch the livestream of the event starting at 8:30 a.m. EST, please click this link.

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