“Sunny Side Up II”, the solar boat of the Vripack Solar Team, finished in a clever and well-deserved second place in the final standings of the Frisian Solar Challenge 2010, the World Cup Solar Boat.

Vripack Solar Boat - Sunny Side Up II

Besides daytime designing and engineering of luxury yachts and commercial vessels, an enthusiastic team of 18 persons developed in the evenings and weekends during 1,5 years a very reliable Solar Boat which travelled at a very steady high speed. Where other boats sometimes overtook Vripack, the team members kept cool during this very long race and proved that haste definitely can trip over its own heels.

During the five race stages, which took place between 4th and 10th July, ‘Sunny Side Up II ” raced 220km passing the famous 11 cities of Friesland. She did this within 16.5 hours. During the race, the pilot communicated live with the mobile team on land, so continuous information was shared about the brightness of the sun and the intake of energy and also calculations were made of how far the finish was and how much power was available. Often “Sunny Side Up II” finished on her final drop of energy.

The Winning Team - Vripack Solar Team - Image courtesy of Vripack

Vripack’s “Sunny Side Up II” is powered by five solar panels and has a top speed of 19.2km (10.36kts) per hour. The maximum power available is 2400kW. The six meter (19.7ft) boat is propelled by a custom made 2 blade propeller mounted on a forward innovative POD which was then connected to an electric engine. The body consists of carbon fiber and epoxy glue. Inspired by the BMW Gina Light Visionary Model, the team managed to save weight and thus able to gain speed as some parts of the boat were manufactured from textile fabric. Of course, the Vripack Solar Team also paid much attention to the looks of this sun absorbing boat which resulted in a nice futuristic exterior.

“Sunny Side Up II” was developed entirely by the Vripack Solar Team which designed three different lines plans which were tested on scale by a self-built towing machine at the Vripack office. The wooden plug, 27kg composite hull and the entire POD propulsion system were also built by the team itself. What do you mean, computer nerds understand nothing about building boats?

Thanks to the support of Polem, Snijtech, Esthec, Adel Polyester, Marin, Fiftysix, Interlinie, Vripack Brokers and Vripack Naval Architects, the Vripack Solar Team managed to achieve this great result!