Back to news
Seaworthy solar boat 2019 (TU Delft): An exciting challenge

Seaworthy solar boat 2019 (TU Delft): An exciting challenge

On the 15th of January the TU Delft Solar Boat Team had one of the biggest milestones of this year: the reveal of the new design of the Solar Boat 2019. For the first time the Solar Boat Team TU Delft will built a Solar Boat for the open seas. The design is completely different compared to previous years. What an exciting challenge.

Ridderflex is so proud to be Golden Partner of the team once more. We will help make this seaworthy Solar Boat 2019 reality!

A trimaran is seaworthy

The Solar Boat 2019 will have trimaran shape: a boat with three hulls. This way the boat can be built widely, so it will provide the needed stability for coping with high waves and heavy gusts of wind on the open sea. Because of the wider design, there will also be capacity for a considerably larger sun deck. With a surface of 28 square meters, maximum energy can be obtained from the sunlight. Thanks to the use of hydrofoils, the trimaran will not only be able to sail but can also fly above the waves at high speed. This allows the solar boat to achieve higher speeds on the energy that is obtained from sunlight.

Three passengers instead of one

Normally, the TU Delft Solar Boat only has one passenger. This year’s boat will have three. This is a big step towards passenger shipping, the TU Delft Solar Boat Team wants to show the world that sailing on solar energy is possible.

Production phase has already started

The production phase of the Solar Boat 2019 has already begun. The team will produce and assemble the boat in just three months, so that the boat can compete during the Offshore Challenge, the world championships for solar boats in Monaco. In addition, the team will also do a world-record attempt by crossing the Channel as the fastest solar boat in the world in August.

Do you want to know more about the seaworthy TU Delft Solar Boat 2019 and about our role in the Solar Boat project? Please, follow our news blog. We will post updates regularly.