Solar-powered boats built and raced by students from Canyon High School, Anaheim, and Scripps Ranch High School, San Diego, today won the veteran and newcomer divisions in the eighth annual Solar Cup competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and local water agencies.
The schools were among the 36 teams from Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties participating in the seven-month program in which students build, equip and race the 16-foot, single-seat canoes powered only by the sun. The three-day event is held at Metropolitan's Lake Skinner reservoir in the Temecula Valley in southwestern Riverside County.
"At the Solar Cup closing ceremonies, every one of the 700 participants is awarded an Olympic-style medal because, in our eyes, they're all winners," said Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger.
Assisting in the awards presentations were David De Jesus, Metropolitan Water District director representing Three Valleys Municipal Water District, based in Claremont; Allen Wu, director, Walnut Valley Water District, based in Walnut; Luis Juarez, director, Three Valleys Municipal Water District.
"Over the past seven months, and especially in the past three days, they've learned a lot about water conservation and renewable resources," Kightlinger said, "and had practical, hands-on application of lessons they had learned in textbooks."
Teams qualified their boats for the competition on Friday through inspections and testing on land and water by Metropolitan staff and a technical advisory team from Occidental College. Saturday, the teams attached solar-collection panels to the boats for two, 90-minute 1.7-kilometer endurance races.
Today, the boats removed the heavy solar-collection panels and, using solar energy stored in batteries, raced down a 200-meter stretch-like drag racing on water.
The Solar Cup program began last November when Metropolitan's member agencies announced their school sponsorships. Teams are sponsored by their local water agencies and other organizations to equip the craft with solar panels, batteries, steering and related systems.
Metropolitan provides each team with identical kits of marine-grade plywood to build the hull. While all teams must build a new boat and equip it, returning teams may use equipment from previous boats. Ten of the 36 teams in this year's event were newcomers and 26 were veterans of previous Solar Cups.
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