The idea of a solar powered boat was first suggested to Dean Robert L. Reid in 1988 by Mr. Andrew J. Fleckenstein, Chairman of the Board of Fleck Controls in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Mr. Fleckenstein had traveled in southeast Asian countries and noted the physical burden of poor people who spent many hours each day paddling canoes from island to island and traversing rivers. Because of Dr. Reid's twenty years of research in solar energy, he took interest in the idea and became especially interested in 1989 when he learned the Japanese had held a solar boat race at Hamanako. In the fall of 1990, electrical engineering senior Jim O'Reilly expressed a desire to do a senior design project in solar energy. He liked the idea of designing a solar powered racing boat and the design process began. In the spring of 1991, four other mechanical and electrical engineering seniors joined the project along with a second advisor, Prof. Bruce Hoeppner, from the electrical engineering department. The Japanese specifications did not arrive until late April, 1991, and since the first design did not meet these specifications, the boat was not built.

Seventeen senior students selected the solar racing boat project as their number one choice in 1991-92. Design was completed by February. Mr. Fleckenstein was impressed by the design and agreed to provide a substantial amount of the funding. Serendipitously, another substantial donation arrived from Mrs. Joseph W. Kosewicz whose two sons had graduated from Marquette University in the 1970's, one in electrical engineering and the other in mechanical engineering. Mrs. Kosewicz has an appreciation of the importance of developing new technology to compete in the global marketplace so was supportive of her contribution being used to help finance the solar boat project. The construction of the boat was completed by May. The boat was named SUN WARRIOR and publicly launched on June 5, 1992, at the RiverSplash Festival. The event included sailing on the Milwaukee River and was reported by three TV stations and in the local newspapers.

SUN WARRIOR won the first United States solar boat race held at the Minnesolar 92 Solar Boat Regatta on June 20, 1992. The other competitors in the two-hour race were two boats built by inventors, six from high schools, and one from a junior high school. SUN WARRIOR carried 300 pounds of Johnson Control batteries and sixty-four square feet of Solarex photovoltaic panels powering two ZEBCO Motorguide electric motors. SUN WARRIOR was tested in the vehicular wind tunnel at Modine Manufacturing Company in Racine, Wisconsin, where the R & D shop helped in fabrication of components for some of the later races.

On June 21, 1992, SUN WARRIOR was exhibited at the 1992 Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Amherst, Wisconsin, and drew considerable attention from the attendees. On July 17, 1992, SUN WARRIOR was decorated in red, green, and white and participated in the Venetian Boat Parade at Festa Italiana.

On August 10, 1992, nine students and Dr. Reid left Milwaukee with a van, truck and SUN WARRIOR trailer and drove to the Spada Lake reservoir area about 50 miles northeast of Seattle.

The Spada Lake reservoir in Washington was accessible only by 20 miles of steep, winding, and rough gravel road and the group camped without water or electricity but at a beautiful lake surrounded by tall mountains. The team quickly realized that they were going to be at a disadvantage in these races because SUN WARRIOR was designed to meet the specifications of the Japanese races and the power limitation put on the boat was equivalent to making a Cadillac run with a Yugo engine. All of our competitors in both races were inventors or companies in both the August 15 battery-powered marathon and the August 16 solar boat marathon.

In the twelve-hour battery marathon with a 200 pound lead-acid battery limitation, SUN WARRIOR used Johnson Controls Dynasty marine batteries. Fifteen of the twenty-three entries were launched at 5:00 a.m. on August 16 and the twelve-hour race began at 6:00 a.m. The $5,000 first prize sponsored by GM Delco Voyager marine batteries went to the SEVA racing team from Edmonds, Washington who covered 67.1 miles in twelve hours for an average speed of 5.59 MPH. This boat used 199.6 pounds of Sears (Johnson Controls) Die-Hard batteries. SUN WARRIOR covered 42.1 miles in twelve hours for an average speed of 3.51 MPH and finished ninth in the field of fifteen.

The August 16 solar boat marathon held from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. had a solar collector limitation of 40 square feet and no batteries were allowed. (SUN WARRIOR had carried 64 square feet of collectors in the June 20 race.) Seven of the eleven entries were in the water at 10:00 a.m. The $5,000 first prize went to the Photocomm-built boat which

covered 20.9 miles in four hours for an average speed of 5.22 MPH. (Photocomm is the second largest solar collector manufacturer in the United States.) SUN WARRIOR covered 14.5 miles for an average speed of 3.62 MPH and finished in sixth place.

If the battery marathon had allowed 300 pounds of batteries and the solar marathon allowed 65 or 70 square feet of solar collectors, SUN WARRIOR certainly would have finished higher in the standings of these races.

The boat was then disassembled and the components packed for shipment. The two hulls and two long boxes were checked into Northwest Air Cargo in Seattle while six other boxes were checked as baggage to Tokyo. One night was spent in Tokyo complementary

of NHK (major Japanese TV network who sponsored the Mikata race) and then the team

took the bullet train to Mikata. NHK provided a truck to transport the hulls and boxes. The boat was reassembled in the paddock area at Mikata-Goko (Mikata Five Lakes) on August 15 and two members of the team attended organizational meetings. It was soon discovered that SUN WARRIOR was up against 59 other solar boats including three boats from Yamaha, three from Nissan, two from Mariyama Manufacturing Company (electric motors manufacturer), two from Kansai Power Company, and at least one each from Honda, Mitsubichi, Roland Electronics, and several boat companies. These boats were not just sponsored by these companies but built by their engineers at their company locations. This was also the fourth solar boat race since 1989 so most were very experienced in building solar racing boats.

On Sunday, August 16, SUN WARRIOR participated in the races called the Grand Solar Challenge. The event was a very impressive production sponsored by NHK and sent by satellite live throughout most of Asia. There were many corporate tents, four temporary piers, a floating stage, dignitaries, a band, entertainment, and three helicopters circling during the races.

All contestants were given two YUASA 16 amp-hr batteries which were inspected and marked after installation in the boats on race day. The first events at 10:10 a.m. were 200 m sprint races held in heats of twelve to thirteen boats each. The top four winners of each heat advanced to the next heat. The winner was a boat built by Roland Corporation. SUN WARRIOR did not advance beyond the first heat. Between about 10:30/11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., there was entertainment while contestants were allowed to recharge their batteries from solar energy only. At 1:20 p.m., the one hour was held around a triangular course, 3 km in length. SUN WARRIOR was not the fastest boat but also was not the slowest. As the hour went by, several boats suffered from quality control and reliability problems and had to be towed in (including one of the Yamaha boats). As in the Washington races, SUN WARRIOR was 100% reliable and also passed many slower boats. SUN WARRIOR covered 2.5 laps in one hour for an average speed of 4.67 mi/hr and finished ahead of 27 Japanese boats for 31st place in the field of 60. The first place boat was one of the Yamaha boats who covered 4 laps for an average speed of 7.45 mi/hr.

There was much excitement during the race with team members from many of the Japanese boats doing cheering/chanting accompanied by drums. The closing ceremony was similar in formality to the Olympics with music accompanying the awards presentation. The SUN WARRIOR team received the second place award for creativity. The award was accepted by Joel Bragg, mechanical engineering senior, and Chris Peck, electrical engineering senior. Even though not the fastest, SUN WARRIOR was one of the most practical of all the solar boats being capable of carrying four passengers safely with complete reliability.

There were many friends made in Mikata. At the opening party on Saturday night, the students made friends with a team of young engineers from the Kansai Power Company. The town of Mikata arranged bus transportation to and from the inn to the race site, and English teachers from the local junior high and high schools were volunteer interpreters working in shifts. The team stayed at a traditional Japanese inn (a Menshuku) where they sat on the floor to eat from a low table and slept on the floor on a futon mat with a rice bag pillow. The team members occupied all four guest rooms at the inn and made friends with the innkeeper's family even though none understood each other's language. Photographs of the family were taken and gifts exchanged before departure.

On the day after the race, SUN WARRIOR was disassembled and packed for shipment back to the United States. A sightseeing tour was taken around the Mikata-Goko area and the team went swimming in the Sea of Japan. The next day the group took the train to Hamanatsu where they toured the Yamaha motorcycle engine plant. The Yamaha engineers treated the group to a party at a restaurant that evening. The team then took the train to Kyoto and spent three days touring historic temples and shrines as well as taking a bus trip to Nara, another ancient capital of Japan.

The group arrived in Seattle at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, August 30. They then drove nonstop to Milwaukee and arrived at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, August 31. The trip was somewhat tiring (the group slept in beds only five of the twenty-one nights) but very rewarding. The students made many friends, learned much about the Japanese culture, and even learned a little of the Japanese language.

The events for 1992-93 include exhibiting SUN WARRIOR at greater Milwaukee area high schools (twelve have already responded positively to an offer) and the design of SUN WARRIOR II. The Marquette Solar Energy Society has been formed to allow the veterans who have not yet graduated to continue involvement along with freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Thirty-two senior students from this year's senior class selected SUN WARRIOR II as their first choice for their senior design project and the design process has started.

It is anticipated that SUN WARRIOR II will race in Minnesolar 93 which will again be held in Minneapolis in June but in 1993 will be held at the conclusion of the second collegiate solar car race which runs from Dallas to Minneapolis. Marquette is the defending champion. SUN WARRIOR II may race in Washington and Japan in 1993 depending on the availability of funds. SUN WARRIOR II/III will race in 1994 in the planned U.S. collegiate solar boat to be held at an undetermined location.

Solar boat racing will be an important activity for the next several years in the College of Engineering at Marquette University.

September 1992


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