Programme updates
Netherlands: Delta Lloyd boat wins Frisian Solar Challenge
Date: 10 Jul 2008
The Delta Lloyd Solar Boat is
covered in solar cells.
Delta Lloyd's Solar Boat and its TU Delft team won the 200km Frisian Solar Challenge in a record time of 12 hours, five minutes and 47 seconds, almost five hours faster than two years ago.
The Frisian Solar Challenge is a race for solar-powered craft over a distance of 200 kilometres, starting and finishing at Leeuwarden, the capital of the Dutch province of Friesland.
After six rounds in the sun, rain and wind, 32 of the 49 registered teams finally reached the finishing line.
The team, principally made up of marine technical students, won each stage, despite sailing off-course on two occasions.
Cox Mark Meijerman said: "The pressure was really on this time. The competition got really close. If the tiniest thing happens to your boat, you're out."
The solar boats were of a much better quality than those used in the first event two years ago, according to Dutch physicist and astronaut Professor Wubbo Ockels of TU Delft.
Professor Ockels closely followed the participants in the race as ambassador to the Frisian Solar Challenge. "They were going much quicker than in 2006. Great strides have been made in the conversion of solar energy into navigational power," he said.
The Delta Lloyd Solar Boat Team took part in the C (open) category. In this category, the teams have to control their own solar panels, the most important component of the boat. The seven students started designing and constructing the new boat in September 2007.
The Frisian Solar Challenge will be held again in 2010.
- You can find out more at www.deltalloydsolarboatteam.nl and www.frisiansolarchallenge.nl.
