Sensor Technology is pleased to support the Técnico Solar Boat team via our Portuguese distributor, Arcamo with an SGR521 torque transducer which allows the team to complete tests on its motor test bench, who have been competing at the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2022, coming third place in the competition.
The Técnico Solar Boat team shared the following statement:
This year we once again headed to Monaco with both our prototypes, SR03 and SM01, for the ninth edition of Monaco Energy Boat Challenge 2022. After a week of hard work, excitement and everything in between, the team reached third place in the Solar Class with São Rafael 03 and won the Innovation Prize for its advancements in the hydrogen propulsion system of São Miguel 01.
The trials started on the 7th of July, at which point we were still having issues with SM01, our hydrogen prototype, and as such it couldn’t compete in the qualifying laps, in which SR03 finished 4th. This was a promising start, but our place in the podium wouldn’t be cemented until the next day.
The Endurance Trial took place on July 8th. The goal in this race is to complete as many half nautical mile laps as possible in three hours. SR03 completed a total of 22 laps, securing the 2nd place in the final lap with a great effort to pull ahead of the third-placed team. This was exciting as it’s the best finish we’ve achieved in this race since 2019, when we finished in second place with SR02. We were now confident that a podium finish was achievable and thus we continued working hard to secure it the next day.
The final day of MEBC started with the Slalom Race, in which the boats have to navigate through a course designed to test speed and maneuverability. We did well in this race, finishing in 3rd place only a few seconds away from 2nd place.
In the afternoon we had the Championship Race, which is a knockout style tournament in which teams go head-to-head up until the final, to decide the winner. In the first stage we beat CleanMobility Solar Team, advancing to the next stage where we were beaten by Swiss Solar Boat. We then advanced to the last race to define the 3rd and 4th places in a best-of-three race, where we lost 2-1 by a matter of centimeters against Solar Boat Twente, finishing in 4th. This was enough to secure us a 3rd place finish overall, which was incredible!
In the evening we had the Prize-giving Ceremony, in which we were given the third-place prize, as well as the Innovation Prize for the design of a water trap to avoid water build-up in the hydrogen channels in SM01’s system!
It’s not all good news though. After a week of working non-stop, day and night to get SM01 ready for the competition, we couldn’t do it in time due to an array of technical problems and therefore failed our technical inspections. Still, we learned a lot from this year’s edition of Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, our result in the Solar Class and the Innovation Prize has given us the confidence to keep working hard and try again next year, hopefully reaching first place!
We’d like to thank you for keeping up with us and thank our sponsors for supporting us and helping achieve our goals. None of this would have been possible without them. See you soon!