16 of the largest ships worldwide emit more
than all cars worldwide.
The TU Delft has a good track record for a long time,
pushing boundaries with new
technologies and innovations.
But now, the TU Delft also made a Solar Boat!
[...] our first, seaworthy solar boat.
So you're going to participate in the World Championship in Monaco
We are so proud of the team.
One wild rollercoaster of emotions.
That is why we think we can make a bigger impact on the water.
And we're going to break those boundaries, that is awesome.
The TU Delft Solar Boat Team is a team with 28 ambitious students from the TU Delft
who are committed to a greener world for a year.
Every year we build a boat powered on solar energy
to show what is possible with new innovations.
The maritime industry still has a lot of challenges regarding sustainability
and we want to push them in the right direction.
Last year we have taken major steps
within the team, within the industry,
on a personal level...
So much has happened this year.
Usually we develop an inshore boat
but the real maritime world takes place
on the big oceans.
That is why this year was very special, it was the first time we made a boat for the open sea.
This was a big jump in the deep end,
to be able to do this we had to make the most ambitious design ever.
First of all, the huge solar deck of 28 square meters which we needed to win enough energy from the sun.
But because the boat became this big, we have chosen to build a trimaran
a boat with 3 hulls.
This caused new challenges,
because the boat was so big that we could no longer transport it.
So we developed the boat in a way that it can be disassembled in 3 parts
Which is another thing we have never done before.
We have really pushed boundaries with this design,
but then it really started.
The production phase started in January
a very intensive period in which we completely built the boat in a few months.
The team consists of 3 departments:
Hull & Body, Electronics and Vehicle Dynamics.
Hull & Body is responsible for the production of the hulls of the boat
This year, we had 3 hulls.
These are made from carbon fiber, which is a very light and strong material.
The hulls by themselves weigh only 80kg but are strong enough to sail on the sea.
We actually made 3 separate boats this year instead of one
which was an enormous challenge, but we managed to do it anyway.
Vehicle Dynamics is responsible for anything that moves within the boat
mainly the hydrofoils and our propulsion.
The hydrofoils are made in such way that they will make our boat fly over the water surface
if we're sailing fast enough.
Technically, our boat looks more like an airplane
than a normal boat
Vehicle Dynamics is also responsible for the underwater propulsion
All solar energy has to be converted into propulsion
which is done by our propeller in the back-strut
We have also designed the back-strut by ourselves.
The Electronics department is responsible for everything that happens inside of the boat
and ensures all separate systems embed into one.
It isn't easy getting the maximum efficiency
out of the solar panels
For that you have to first test the panels,
afterwards you can connect the solar panels with the same efficiency
and then you have to connect the MPPT's
- which we make by ourselves within the team -
to the system to gain the maximum efficiency
out of our solar panels.
Like this we have developed a custom computer system uniquely for our boat.
The biggest challenge during the production phase was really the modularity
Inventing something is only the first step
but actually realizing it is another big step.
But then we truly did it:
the first boat for the open ocean is finished.
On the 28th of May, we were in Rotterdam
together with Sailor Laura Dekker, we were ready to show our boat to the world.
Then we came to actually 
test the boat for the first time
which was really awesome.
This is what the team has been 
working towards for months
and to actually see the boat sailing is really a special moment.
But those who push their boundaries can also expect a setback
which sometimes can be an enormous one.
It was all going really well and we were having a testing day which was going great
we were going really fast, nearly at the speed at which would be sailing during Monaco
and it was all going just fine.
Also the first time we put the foils underneath the boat
so we were, of course, expecting the boat 
to come out of the water.
But then we heard some weird ticking noise
followed by a loud bang
and we immediately knew,
this is not good.
"Woah, stop stop stop stop!"
We got a message that said the foil has sunken.
At first I thought like, what, is this a joke?
And there were more people here who also thought so.
While later it turned out to be true.
At that moment you don't fully grasp 
what has happened
That you have really just
lost a piece of your boat.
At such a moment there are so many thoughts
going through your head
Are we ever going to get the boat flying again?
Are we ever going to get the boat sailing again?
Because you don't really know
what happened of course,
I mean, the entire hull could have broken.
We have made multiple diving attempts to find the foil.
We even used a sonar boat to search the area to see whether we could find it somewhere at the bottom,
but in the end we found nothing.
But we had to keep going,
the world championships were only two weeks away
and we had no other option but to simply go to Monaco without the wings.
The first race in Monaco went great
we sailed 30 km from Monaco to Ventimiglia and back.
And this was our first real race
and it was just awesome to see how well our boat performed on the Mediterranean.
That first race went exactly like we had expected it to
the boat sailed exactly on the speed we wanted to.
The team members who were sailing the boat were having so much fun doing so
you can just see the time and emotion that has been put in this project
and if you can then achieve this that is so amazing.
The boat was performing really good
and it was honestly amazing to sail with this boat on the Mediterranean.
After the race, we inspected the boat
which was when we find out we would have to endure another setback.
That was a really weird moment because you go from
euphoria, where everybody was congratulating each other and talking to their parents
to, ok guys, we need to be super serious now
because there might be some
really major issues coming up.
During the race the solar panels
have become overheated and were damaged.
So we decided that it was not safe to sail the second race with solar panels.
With pain in our hearts, we had to remove the solar panels from the boat,
not only due to safety but also to still have a chance of becoming world champions.
So that was really
the second part of your identity as Solar Boat Team
that you remove from the boat.
First the foils and next are the solar panels
so that was a severe setback for us.
But we did make that decision
to keep going the next day, because we had
come to Monaco to win.
We got to the second and final racing day
we had worked all night and were totally ready for it.
The competition had boats that were a lot faster
and we had also just had a big setback of course
but we did have the huge efficiency of our boat to our advantage.
[race commentary] "Live, from the world championship
for solar boats in Monaco"
"We started!
We started!"
"Won't you look at that, with this background"
"This is so amazing to see the boat in action"
"We are sailing 32 km/h and the time has come"
"This, this is so incredibly awesome!"
"Still sailing beautifully on course"
"Keeping a steady speed"
"A dream that could become reality"
"There is chance that at the end of this day
we will officially become,
world champions offshore solar boat races!"
"This is historical!"
"Right now, we are writing history!"
"We are sailing the last two kilometers of that dream"
"I see that team members are getting ready to cheer"
"One kilometer until the finish line"
"We finished!"
"We have finished!"
"We have officially become first
in the long offshore race!"
And suddenly, our dream had become a reality:
We were the world champions.
That we have become world champions
that is just intangible.
I just hadn't expected it after this entire year after
after everything that happened
and than you are standing there with such amazing and kind people
and such a diverse group.
You could really tell how that group got closer throughout the year
with everybody really.
That was just amazing to experience.
When I look back, huge chaos.
But predominantly, so much pride about what we have achieved.
Educational, amazing, awesome...
enormous.
That you do work towards one goal with each other
and in the end, see the results of it.
What I hadn't really expected beforehand is
that you learn a lot about people
and about yourself.
A solar boat year is something you will only experience once in your life
and I do think it has been my 
most awesome year up till now.
A turbulent year
from which friendships were also created.
The team played a part of course, but also alumni
parents, friends, family
and partners of course.
When you talk to people, when you make them realize that
we are really doing this for something bigger
and we try to contribute to that.
Being a part in that, making people realize that
that is a really awesome experience.
