What is the team about?

The TU Delft Hydro Motion Team is one of the Dream Teams at Delft University of Technology. Our team consists of 24 ambitious students from eleven different fields of study. In one year we go through the process of designing, producing and racing a boat that sails on green energy. Our team is fully committed every year to show the applications of our advanced technologies at spectacular races.

For 15 years we have inspired the maritime industry with our flying solar boats. The 2021 team took the big step with the Hydro Motion project. They developed the first flying boat that sails on hydrogen! This year we officially rebranded and will continue under the name; TU Delft Hydro Motion Team.

The 2022 Hydro Motion Team will continue working with hydrogen, this year we will design a boat optimised for hydrogen. With this boat we will compete in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge in the Open Sea Class.

This project gives our students the opportunity to gain practical experience and learn what it is like to work together in a multidisciplinary team towards an ambitious goal. During one year, they develop in multiple areas and gain skills that will benefit them for the rest of their professional career. With our team, we shape the engineers of a sustainable future.

Our mission!

With our project we want to work together with the maritime sector to accelerate the transition to green energy. There is still a lot to be gained in this sector and by thinking together with the maritime world and innovating in the field of sustainability, we contribute to a better and greener future. Because only together we can make a change.

History

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Teams

Since the founding of the TU Delft Solar Boat Team

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Boats

Have been built since the founding of the TU Delft Solar Boat Team

For 15 years, our team has been committed to a green future by building sustainably powered boats. In 2005 the TU Delft Solar Boat team was founded and for 15 years the team developed incredible solar-powered boats. The team of 2021 took the big step and decided to explore the potential of hydrogen. This year we continue this motion of development and show our renewed identity with our new name: TU Delft Hydro Motion Team.

We are building a hydrogen-powered boat to show the potential and power of hydrogen. Our boat will race at the World Championships in the Open Sea Class in Monaco.

In 2005, a number of Maritime Engineering students founded the TU Delft Solar Boat Team. The year after they already won the “Frisian Solar Challenge”. From then on, every two years a completely new boat was designed and built which was optimized the following year. Since 2016 we design and build an entirely new boat every year.

In all these years we have gone through a lot of developments. We have always been optimizing our boats in all areas, for example efficiency, speed, stability and manoeuverability. We have managed to reduce our drag in ingenious ways through the shape of our hulls. Later, the use of hydrofoils introduced a completely new way of sailing. These make our boats fly. They lift the boat out of the water and thus significantly reduce drag. Different innovations and variations have been used, such as a double strut configuration or a 3 strut configuration. Each year unique boats are built and we continue to innovate and inspire. You can find more details about all the years below.

TU Delft Hydro Motion TeamFrom this year on, the TU Delft Solar Boat Team continues as the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team
Team 2021This year, the 2021 team is moving into uncharted waters with our project Hydro Motion. This year's boat runs on hydrogen instead of solar energy. The three hulls of the world championship winning 2019 boat will be reused and completely refitted. The hydrogen system combined with our wings makes us the world's first flying hydrogen boat.
Team 2020The 2020 team has made the boat lighter and smaller, which has made for a very efficient boat. In fact, it can sail on only the power of a water cooker. In addition, the wings of the 2020 boat are made of carbon fibre which allowed for multiple sets of wings to be self-produced for different racing elements. The team competed in their self-organised race on the Ketelmeer.
Team 2019The 2019 team designed the first solar boat for open sea within the team. This boat is a trimaran and has not one, but three hulls. The boat is modular, which means it can be taken apart and assembled to be transported. With a sun deck of 28 square meters, this is the largest boat in the history of our team. In Monaco, the team became world champions in the 'offshore class'.
Team 2018The 2018 team has again opted for the double T-strut configuration. With this, speeds of 50 km/h were achieved. Because there were elements in the races where efficiency and manoeuvrability were essential, a system was devised whereby the pilot could move the front and rear strut independently. The biggest challenges were to keep it as compact as possible and to guarantee ease of use during the race. In this year's Solar Sport One competition, the team won second prize.
Team 2017The 2017 team improved manoeuvrability and stability by designing a boat with three hydrofoils. Despite this extra hydrofoil and larger hull, the boat achieved a speed of up to 48 km/h. This year they participated in the Monaco Solar Boat Challenge and wanted to cross the English Channel. This crossing was unfortunately cancelled due to the risks at that time.
Team 2016The 2016 team completely redesigned the hull and improved the wings.This allowed this boat to reach speeds of up to 55 km/h, the officially measured speed record within the team! This year they participated in the Dutch Solar Challenge where a second place was achieved. In addition, they participated in the Monaco Solar Boat challenge where a second place was also achieved and the boat was awarded the Riva beauty award!
Team 2015In 2015, the boat built by the 2014 team was taken as the basis. They mainly redesigned the propulsion system which enabled the boat to reach a speed of 51 km/h, a record within the team. In 2015, the boat took third place at the Solar 1 Cup and won the design award at the DONG Energy Solar Challenge.
Team 2014With this boat, the 2014 team scored high: it was the first boat with a double T-strut hydrofoil configuration that had ever appeared at the start of the DONG Energy Solar Challenge. The boat has two supports in the water, which gives it properties of an airplane as well as properties of a bicycle.
Team 2012In 2012, the team again succeeded in developing a boat that can hover just above the water at different speeds. It uses hydrofoils, which lift the entire boat out of the water. At high speeds, the angle of attack of the wings is changed to generate more or less lift. In this way, the boat can sail more stably.
Team 2010In 2010, the team started using hydrofoils in the design for the first time. With this boat, the team finished third at the 2010 Frisian Solar Challenge. The hydrofoils ensure that the boat, when it reaches a certain speed, is lifted out of the water. In this way, the boat has a lot less resistance so that with the same power it can now sail about one and a half times as fast as the boat in 2008.
Team 2008In 2008 the team, then still under the name Delta Lloyd Solar Team, managed to win the Frisian Solar Challenge again with a lead of three hours on the number two. The boat has a very small underwater hull, a depth of 10 cm, which makes the resistance of the hull minimal. This design proved to be very popular: several teams used the mold to build their own solar boat in the years after 2008.
Team 2006This is the first boat created by the TU Delft Solar Boat Team with the goal in mind of winning the first version of the Frisian Solar Challenge. They managed to achieve this goal and won the race with a considerable lead over the number two.