SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — After COVID-19 canceled the world championships of collegiate solar boating last year, Cedarville University’s solar boat team set out this weekend to make up for what was missed.
Zach Lapearl, 22, spent a good bit of time on the first day of the competition making sure the team’s solar boat batteries were working properly.
Getting a few hours of sleep here and there over the last several days, Lapearl was just glad they got as far as they did.
Tying up some loose ends, Lapearl and his engineering teammates took the year to build their boat, which runs off of solar and battery power.
It was all for a chance to win the Solar Splash competition in southwest Ohio, where students competed in sprint and maneuverability races.
Re-arranging batteries in the boat, Lapearl said they’re picking up from last year’s team efforts, which were cut short because of COVID-19.
“It was an interesting process trying to pick stuff up and re-learn things from the dynamic manuals that they had provided. And that was probably the biggest challenge is just looking through people’s parts and having to email them instead of being able to go up and ask them.”
Although they had a lot of wiring and software issues leading up to the competition, Lapearl said: “When we put it all together and it all works, I did a little jump for joy because I was very happy that everything I had spent my entire year on was working.”
Lifting the lid to all of the wiring that helps to power the boat, driver Kelly Coleman showed all of the wiring parts she’s worked on.
Proud of what she was able to accomplish, she admitted she was a little nervous.
“We just switched to a different prop for our endurance, so I have been driven with that prop yet, and I’ll be driving for our qualifying race. So that’s a little bit concerning just because it hasn’t been tested with my different weight balance, but it should be fine,” Coleman said.
Pulling the trailer towards the dock, Lapearl and the rest of the team, moved carefully to launch the boat into the water. Hopping in, Coleman, put on a life vest and performed a few quick tests before her teammate moved her to the other side of the dock for the first maneuverability test.
Shifting into high gear, Coleman glided through the water and around buoys before coming back to the dock.
“It was pretty smooth. It went pretty well.”
Cedarville University’s won 12 out of 25 Solar Splash championships.
To see results of the teams, click here.
