The HAN Solarboat team achieved a remarkable performance during the Energy Boat Challenge in Monaco. With their innovative solar boat, they managed to win 2nd place in both the Endurance, Slalom and Championship race. This also earned them 2nd and silver place (value of €2,000) in the overall standings during the 10th edition of this prestigious solar boat race. Awesome!

The team was classified in the Solar Class with Klaasjan Wagenaar, Embedded Systems Engineering (ESE) student, as the boat’s pilot. Klaasjan was happy to have some time at the Mediterranean coast first to get used to the waves, as it was his first international race at the wheel. The other team members who helped him were:

• Yosri Tielbeke (ESE student)
• René Harlaar (Mechanical Engineering student)
• Junn Speet (Electrical Engineering student)
• Harm Ruigrok (former Qconcepts intern)
• Leonie Dijkhof (team manager)

The HAN team received support from main sponsors Qconcepts and Innovation Centre in Mobility and Energy (IIME) and quite a few other sponsors.

Double counting Endurance race

The HAN Solarboatteam made an important step towards the final result by putting in a good performance in the double counting Endurance race, in which they finished 2nd. Thanks to thorough testing sessions on the water earlier in the week, teammates Jurian Rademaker and Martijn Groot Jebbink of Qconcepts were able to devise a well thought-out strategy, which turned out to work extremely well.

In the Slalom race, the difference with the reigning world champion Sunflare from Drachten, also the eventual winner, was only 0.78 seconds. In the final event, the Championship race, pilot Klaasjan Wagenaar showed his unrivalled racing skills. The boat glided over the hydrofoils through the course, beating Solar Boat Twente. Moreover, the HAN team even scored a victory in one of the best-of-three races against the eventual winner, Sunflare from Drachten.

All this earned the Yacht Club de Monaco an all-Dutch podium. With third place for the Solar Boat Twente, second place for the HAN Solarboat and Sunflare thus winning.

Source and photography: HAN Solarboat