Audi’s Making Catamaran Racing Sailboats Now?

Unlike BMW, Audi doesn’t make motorcycles. It doesn’t make work trucks like Mercedes does, either. It just makes passenger cats. But now it’s making… sailboats as well?

Well, not quite. But it has helped design the craft, and it’s supporting the team that’s sailing it.

What you see here is the Audi e-tron boat – a Nacra 17 catamaran that Johannes Polgar and Carolina Werner will be sailing in competitive regattas, with an eye towards competing in the Olympics. The vessel lifts out of the water almost completely on its hydrofoils, helping it reach speeds of up to 28 nautical miles per hour (50 km/h) on wind power alone.

As title sponsor, Audi selected its e-tron brand to promote its zero-emissions vehicle initiative. “The design sends out a clear message: Audi is ready for the all-electric journey in 2018,” said Audi design chief Marc Lichte. “We have electrified the well-known Audi e-tron logo and are opening a new chapter in the history of Audi. In line with the motto ‘as little as possible, as much as necessary’, the design strikes a perfect balance between pattern and aesthetics.”

Whatever the automaker’s involvement, the livery looks pretty cool, all decked out in black and red. It’ll make its first appearance this month at the Kieler Woche Regatta in Germany.

Audi’s not the first automaker to sponsor a sailboat racing team, either. Maserati does the same, and Volvo only recently relinquished sponsorship of the Ocean Race series. Audi also helped Olympic sailor Philipp Buhl perfect his technique in its wind tunnel, too. And we wouldn’t be surprised, at this rate, to see the automaker continue (or even ramp up) its involvement in competitive sailing in the future, either.