From the banks of Lake Trevallyn to the harbour of St-Tropez, a team of engineering students will be putting their knowledge to the test.
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The team of engineering students from the Australian Maritime College are competing in the 2018 HYDROcontest.
They will compete against 32 teams from 15 nationalities in the competition, which will be held at Saint-Tropez, France, from September 2-9.
The team tested their boats at Lake Trevallyn and Blackstone Heights to prepare them ahead of the competition.
Team spokesperson Maggie Gilligan said the “sea trials” had given the team vital feedback.
“We’re happy with where we’re at in terms of preparation, following about six months of work developing our concepts and testing and validating the two designs,” Ms Gilligan said.
The HYDROcontest requires teams to design and build their boats before racing over a set course.
The teams have several months to build the boats.
“We’ve made some adjustments following the Lake Trevallyn testing,” Ms Gilligan said.
The team will be focusing on their vessel’s loaded stability and righting capabilities as well as its speed and manoeuvrability.
“It’s the last time we’ll see them on water before they reach Saint-Tropez.”
The teams compete in two categories: the mass transport category in which each vessel must hold 200 kilograms of ballast to simulate the displacement of a cargo vessel, and the private boats category in which prototypes loaded with 20 kilograms represent leisure boats.
The team’s mass transport category entry is a hydrofoil-assisted monohull capable of displacing the 200 kilograms of cargo.
A hydrofoiling catamaran has been entered for the private boat category, with team member Mattison McGelling dedicating his final-year thesis to investigating the optimisation of the hydrofoils for this vessel.
The vessels are made from composite materials, one being carbon fibre and the other a fibreglass skin with foam core.
Both boats have custom engineered propellers that the students made with AMC’s 3D printing facilities.