Registered in England Number: 5254029

Registered Office: 8 Flanders Park, Flanders Road, Hedge End, Southampton, SO30 2FZ

Bainbridge Marine Supports Solar

23/07/2008

Bainbridge Marine is proud to be a sponsor of Frisian Solar Challenge boat, Solar Spirit. Held in the Netherlands, the Frisian Solar Challenge is open to teams from institutes of higher education, the business community and members of the public. Forty-nine teams from eight different countries took up the challenge, with each team building their own unique solar-powered boat.

Solar Spirit is the result of 10 students’ collective work over 2 years as part of a College Design, Make and Test project. The boat is made of glass fibre with a wooden frame and is powered by five solar panels (each rated at 175W) with a combined length of six metres, driving an electric outboard motor. The boat is steered using a Teleflex rotary steering system provided by Bainbridge Marine. A tiller arm was manufactured to couple the actuating arm of the cable with the motor. The motor runs on lead-acid batteries which are economical and practical, maximizing cost efficiency and creating a power storage system that is within the competition’s storage capacity and weight limits. The boat’s top speed is rated for 10.4 km/h and draws approximately 675W of power.

Along with the Teleflex IRC steering system, Bainbridge Marine also donated a number of other items from their product range including horn, gas cylinder and paddle – which came in particularly handy on the penultimate day!

After a good start to the race and climbing to tenth place at their peak in the competition, the team encountered a streak of bad luck on the penultimate day after water flooded the electronics systems and reeds got caught up in the boat’s propeller. After repairs were made for the final day of racing, the team headed off to a good start but 500 metres from the finishing line, they suffered incredibly bad luck when the boat’s electronics failed – something recognised by the organisers who awarded a “Bad Luck Prize” to the team!