Team 2 ‘Fat Lady’ of Delft University of Technology has designed and built the fastest model sailing cargo ship in the Netherlands. On 17th of January, the team won a sailing race between twelve student teams from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and Rotterdam Mainport Institute (RMI). The race took place in the Shallow water basin of MARIN in Wageningen.
Unlike in previous years, this time the ships were able to carry cargo. A time correction was applied for the load, with more cargo leading to a more favourable time.
The winning team, consisting of Jaime van Eesteren Barros, Cédric Willekens, Timo van Maarschalkerweerd, Jesper Overbeeke and Jugo Rang, understood that the time correction was in favour of heavy ships. They built a balanced design with a low wetted surface area to reduce frictional resistance. They also utilised a keel which made use of flow control to deliver higher tranverse force at large drift angles
The model of Team 10 ‘Mariteam Mari10’, also from TU Delft, was designed and made by Roald Bruinsma, Anton Beuving, Tim Maaskant, Sietse Soethout and Sebastiaan van Oosterhout, and won the innovation prize. They made clever use of the outriggers. By making it asymmetrical, transverse force was generated. They also managed to carry the maximum payload, which is perhaps surprising considering their multihull design. Calculations were used throughout the design process to aid in making design choices.
The model ships were assessed for speed, turning speed and innovation, whereby two courses had to be completed. The participants had to show that their designs could not only sail fast in a straight line, but were also able to round buoys at speed. ‘Every year the rules are changed to make copying of previous years impossible. This time the teams had to design a hull within maximum dimensions for length, width, and height. The teams could choose to carry a payload of between 0 and 6 kilogrammes. The challenge was to find out if the time correction outweighed the greater resistance incurred by the higher weight’, says Rogier Eggers, jury chairman and Project Manager at MARIN.
The event took place in the Shallow Water Basin of MARIN. The conversion of hydrodynamic and nautical technology into innovative products for the maritime sector is the success factor of MARIN. In organising this annual competition, MARIN aims to give students the opportunity to develop their own ideas into a nautical success.
Information about previous editions can be found on the Design and Sailing contest page.
