Engineering club boats set sail

As part of a weekly engineering project, several groups of Sixth form students have been building model boats using a small electric motor and propeller. The brief of the project was simple – to race the boats from one side of the river Cherwell to the other in as short a time as possible.

The teams worked through the entire engineering design process in their small groups; from brainstorming, producing technical drawings, prototyping through to construction of their final designs. The wide range of innovative designs from the teams was particularly impressive, including catamarans, 3D printed monohulls and even a valiant attempt at a hydrofoiling craft inspired by the America’s Cup boats.

On testing day, the competition was intense, with each team doing their best to cross the finish line first. Our teams quickly realised the importance of ensuring the propeller was aligned centrally as, with the absence of any steering mechanism, several ended up going around in circles on the water.

In the end, Team Vision – a monohulled craft made out of wood – was the overall victor. Our teams did a tremendous job working as a team throughout the project, and learnt a great deal about the importance of careful planning, design and execution in engineering projects.