Solar Cup
Solar Cup 2010 Boat Building and Racing Competition
West Basin sponsored four (4) high school teams in Solar Cup 2010, the world's largest solar boat building and racing competition in the world!
Two veteran teams: Palos Verdes Peninsula High School from Rolling Hills Estates and City Honors High School from Inglewood. Two new teams joined the event: Environmental Charter High School from Lawndale and West High School from Torrance (co-sponsored by City of Torrance Municipal Water).
Click on the links below to view photo albums of their efforts and track each team's progress!
Sunday, May 16 - Solar Cup Sprint Races & Closing Ceremony
Boats dash to the finish line on a 200 meter sprint course in the shortest time, then gather for the closing awards ceremony.
Friday & Saturday, May 14 & 15 - Solar Cup 2010, Lake Skinner
Thirty-six boats and over 700 students converge on the drinking water reservoir in Temecula in the culmination of 7 months of hard work. Friday is devoted to passing inspections and manuvering through the race courses to qualify to compete in the weekend races. Saturday is devoted to the endurance race, a 1.6 kilometer circular course to completed as many times as possbile within 1.5 hours.
- Palos Verdes Peninsula High School...the only front rudder boat in the competition takes on water but does not deter the team from completing both endurance race heats.
- City Honors High School...a loose drive chain is quickly fixed, but dead batteries encourage the boat to dock early in the second enduarnce race heat.
- Environmental Charter High School...although unable to qualify in time to compete in the races, the team is in good spirits after fixing the culprits...a blown fuse and upside down connection.
- West High School...a quick steering mechanism adjustment in the middle of the second heat dows not phase the team.
Saturday, May 1, 2010 - Final Technical Inspection
All school teams haul their boats and students to the final inspection in Claremont in preparation for the big race in 2 weeks! Click on the links below to wee how each team did:
April 2010 - School Site Technical Visits
Metropolitan Water District's technical advisors hit the road to visit school campuses through out Southern California to check out how Solar Cup teams were progressing. Click on the links below to see how each team did:
Saturday, January 30, 2010 - Technical Workshop at Occidental College
Up to five school representatives from each Solar Cup team were invited to visit Occidental College to learn more about mechanical and electrical principles, publicity efforts and requirements for technical reports. Team members built solar toy cars, labeled parts of a solar boat with stickers, and watched a boat maneuver in the campus swimming pool. Click on the links below to view photos of each team's efforts:
Saturday, December 12, 2009 - Technical Workshop at Metropolitan Water District Headquarters
Up to five school representatives from each Solar Cup team were invited to attend this hands-on workshop. Team members split up to attend three-hour sessions on mechanical principals, electricity, and how to plan and write good technical reports.
Saturday, November 21, 2009 - Boat Building Workshop in Claremont
Students from 38 high schools converged under a tent to assemble pre-cut wooden pieces into a 16-foot hollow canoe hull. Students sawed, screwed, nailed and glued into the afternoon, became familiar with terms such as "bow," "stern," "chines," and "bulkhead," then hauled their masterpieces back to school. Over the next 7 months, teams will install motors, propellers, drive shafts and solar panels to operate their boats.