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Anaheim's Canyon High wins 3rd straight Solar Boat Race [Southern
California 2005.5.15] source: Press Release MWD 2005.5.15
TEMECULA, Calif.—A solar-powered boat built by a team from Canyon High School of Anaheim won the MWD Solar Cup 2005 today [Sunday] for the third consecutive year, beating boats from 27 other high schools in the three-day event at Lake Skinner.
The annual event—the only one of its kind in the state—is sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and local water agencies to help teach high school students engineering and problem-solving skills, and about managing and protecting natural and alternative resources. Approximately 500 students participated, and hundreds more attended as spectators. The Canyon team, sponsored by Anaheim Public Utilities, scored 966 points out of a possible 1,000 by also winning today’s 90-minute endurance races, taking third place in Saturday’s sprint races, and winning first places for both their visual display and their technical reports.
Glendora High School, sponsored by Claremont-based Three Valleys Municipal Water District, ranked second with a total of 914 points, also taking first place in the sprint races (covering 200 meters in 28.19 seconds using solar energy stored in batteries), second place in the endurance races, and tying with Norco High School for third place for their technical reports. Nogales High School of La Puente, also sponsored by Three Valleys, placed third with a total score of 875. They also took the second-place prize for their visual display. “This was the best Solar Cup, yet,” said Metropolitan board Chairman Wes Bannister. “Seeing these young people compete yet work together—even loan each other parts—makes it one of the most rewarding events of the year for me and, it’s obvious, for the participants as well.” For instance, this year’s Teamwork Award went to the joint team of Chaparral and Temecula Valley high schools, both of Temecula. Their boat alone failed to qualify in Friday’s technical inspections and test runs, yet they remained throughout the weekend, helping other teams launch and remove their boats from the lake and otherwise assisting other schools. The Bart Bezyack Spirit of Solar Cup Award, named for a 2003 participant who died of cancer as he helped build the Canyon entry for 2004, went to Murietta Valley High School for giving a motor to the San Jacinto team. San Jacinto and Murietta Valley placed 13th and 19th respectively. La Sierra High School of Riverside won the prize for best-looking boat. Their craft was beautifully enameled in red, white and blue in a depiction of the Stars and Stripes waving in the breeze. This year’s top three winners varied only slightly from Solar Cup 2004, when Canyon again took first, but Nogales placed second and Glendora placed third. Student teams begin building their Solar Cup boats in January, from kits of pre-cut marine plywood provided by Metropolitan. When completed, the craft are about 16 feet long and weigh about 50 pounds. Fully equipped, the maximum weight allowed, including the skipper, is 451 pounds. Metropolitan’s 26 member public water agencies sponsor the teams, providing each with $3,000, the maximum allowed to equip a boat with solar panels, batteries, and other necessaries. This year, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors and the El Centro-based Imperial Irrigation District also sponsored teams, while the one un-sponsored team—Centennial High School of Corona—was supported by donations in memory of a former Tech Club student who had joined the U.S. Army and was killed in a mess tent bombing in Iraq. Solar Cup 2005 rankings were: For additional information on Solar Cup 2005, go to Education Programs at Metropolitan’s Web site, www.mwdh2o.com. ---------------------------------The following articles highlight the team from Indio High School(seen below), before the event at Lake Skinner. Through a grant from Imperial Irrigation District, we (Rahus-Solar Schoolhouse) were able to sponsor the team for a second year. Mike Gohl, of the SunWorks, provided invaluable technical assistance along the way. [T.Allen - Rahus/SolarSchoolhouse]
Students hope their boat is a winner [Indio] source: Jennifer
Larson The Desert Sun 2005.5.13 Jeff Campbell's students at Indio High School have been building a solar-powered boat this semester. Tomorrow, they hope to get a chance to test their boat against watercraft built by students from 29 other high schools in Southern California as part of the Solar Cup competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District. The competition will be at Lake Skinner near Temecula. Ernesto Cepeda learned about the project through his Advanced Placement physics class and decided to get involved; it's a way to apply the concepts and principles he has learned in class. But it's also fun to build a boat and then have a chance to race it, the students said. "It's a new experience that's kind of cool," said Christian Martinez. ------------------------------------------------------- Hands-on and bon voyage .
Today, they'll get the chance to test their boat against watercraft built by students from 29 other high schools in Southern California as part of the Solar Cup competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District. Held at Lake Skinner near Temecula, the Solar Cup will test the students' application of their physics knowledge. If they successfully applied their knowledge while creating their boat, they stand a good shot at winning. "It's a cool project," said junior Adriana Ramirez, 16, as she worked on last-minute calculations with two other students. "You get to learn about physics hands-on." Math teacher Jeff Campbell has been overseeing 18 students, mostly juniors and seniors, as they worked on the boat. "The whole thing revolves around the students learning about solar energy and other alternative forms of energy," he said. In fact, many of the students, such as Ernesto Cepeda, 16, decided to get involved to get the experience of putting book knowledge into action. "And we also got extra credit for it," added Christian Martinez, 17, who is taking Advanced Placement physics this year. But they also wanted the unusual chance to build a boat and race it, the students said. "It's a new experience that's kind of cool," Martinez said. The boat itself is a single-seat craft built from a kit provided by the water district. Campbell described the boat as "simply complex." "There's a tremendous amount of engineering that goes into this," he added, pointing out features such as the wooden rudder at the front, the steering wheel, the batteries and the solar panels that are mounted on top of the boat. And there are a few proprietary secrets, such as the boat's small propeller, which is made of a lightweight material that Campbell wouldn't divulge. Empty, the boat weighs about 50 pounds. Fully loaded with batteries, solar panels, other equipment and a driver, the boat cannot weigh more than 451 pounds. Since it is assumed that the driver weighs about 132 pounds, Campbell said he usually has his female students drive during the races. There are two races: a 200-meter sprint and a 90-minute endurance race on a 2-kilometer course. The Indio High team qualified Friday to compete in both of today's events. Jade Valenzuela, 16, will drive the boat in one of the two speed-race heats. She's been getting some input from Viviana Villarreao, 17, a veteran member of the team who drove during the sprint race last year. "Last year, we were kind of underpowered," Villarreao said, adding that the Indio High team had better luck with the endurance race in 2004. "We learned a lot from last year, and through that, we've made a lot of corrections," she added. Julissa Lopez, 17, the other veteran from last year's team, will be an endurance driver this year. "I'm going to be trying to do as many laps as I can in 90 minutes," she said. "You have to keep going," Campbell said. 'You can be going 2 miles per hour, but you have to finish the race." Last year, the Indio High boat logged 11 laps during the allotted time. "That was pretty good, but this year, the course will be larger," Lopez said. "This year, I hope I get at least 11. Or 10." Either way, it will be a long 90 minutes as she sits in the narrow boat, monitors the batteries and tries to avoid crashing into other boats on the turns in the course. "The gluteus gets numb," Lopez said. All fun aside, the students have worked very hard on the boat, Campbell said. They've not only built the boat, but they've also worked on making it competitive - and as safe as possible. They're not anticipating any trouble, but the drivers will be prepared for unanticipated events. "In case something goes wrong," Campbell said, holding up a wooden paddle that will be stored in the boat. Junior Veronica Zazueta, 17, who was adding the finishing touches, joked, "I did many other things, but the paddle is my best work." And Ramirez, Valenzuela and Villarreao all worked on a series of calculations to determine how much polystyrene foam to put in the boat under the solar panels. "We have to have so much flotation in case the boat flips," Ramirez said. No matter whether they win or lose, the experience has been worthwhile, the students said. "It's the kind of project that will stay in your head forever," Ramirez said. But of course, they'd like to do well. "It's fun when you get good results," Lopez said. The winning team will be the one that accumulates the most points from the endurance and sprint races and its visual display and technical reports. The defending champion is Canyon High School from Anaheim Hills. WHAT THEY SAID: Indio High School students talk about their experience building
a boat and preparing for the Solar Cup. Sponsors:
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