Top-klasse – 86 till 90
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T86. Team Tempress, Vaassen, The Netherlands This team will be happy just to make it to the starting line. ‘We started planning too late, only last November,’ says team captain Malcolm Harris. ‘None of us had ever built a boat so we had to do a lot of reading first and talk to experts. And because we are doing this whole project alongside our regular work, it’s all going really slowly. It will be a real achievement for us if we even make the start.’ The team captain remains optimistic and has kept his sense of humour. ‘It’s really exciting for us to see whether we’ll actually pull the boat together in time. Our test run will only be when we sail towards the start line.’ |
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T87. Groningen Solar Team, Groningen, The Netherlands This is the A22 boat’s big brother. This team is also expecting to take a cup home to Groningen. It’s not a matter of self-assurance. This is another boat with hydrofoils. ‘They will allow us to fly over the water and at the same time achieve very high speeds,’ says Margreet van der Velde. Because of the relatively short distance from Groningen, this team is expected to have lots of supporters on the banks. |
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T88. Feenstra’s Future, Schettens, The Netherlands This team is a joint venture between two groups, both of which entered previous races, the team from the company Feenstra’s Installatiebedrijf and the Noordenwind team. They are highly fancied and expect to achieve a podium position again. In 2008 they won the sprint and came third in the open class. By joining forces, the team thinks it can do even better. They fancy their chances anyway. ‘The new rules and regulations for the open class have made the FSC even more interesting for us. Teams with smaller budgets now have just as much power as the big spenders,’ says skipper Tjitte Osinga of Feenstra’s Future. |
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T89. Andela Scheepstechniek, Balk, The Netherlands Look, this is the third hydrofoil boat in the Frisian Solar Challenge fleet. In 2008 it was the only boat with hydrofoils. But in 2008 the boat was plagued with technical problems and the team from Friesland did not make it to the prologue trial and ultimately did not take part. ‘It was a huge disappointment,’ says the team’s Sjoerd Andela. ‘Once we finally solved all the problems, we reached a speed of 34 kph. Unfortunately we were unable to measure it against the competitors. Since then, we have been busy improving the concept and now hope to be able to live up to expectations.’ |
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T90. Cedarville University, Cedarville, United States After missing the last race, the Americans are coming to represent their university again this year. In 2006 they entered the open class and came second. They had to miss the 2008 race because they were taking part in a similar event in their own country, the Solar Splash. But now they are back on Frisian waters and hope to finish in a high position again: ‘We are expecting our boat to be very competitive again this year,’ explains team member Tim Dewhurst. The emissaries from Cedarville University have an ace up their sleeve – their belief in God and the power they draw from him. |
| T 81 till 85 | | T 86 till 90 |
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