A team of Princeton students designed an electric boat that just shattered the world speed record.
The boat, a 14-foot hydroplane named Big Bird, flew over a measured kilo course on Lake Townsend in North Carolina on a two-way average speed of 114.4 mph. The previous world record of 88.6 mph was set by Jaguar Vector Racing, a professional racing organization, in 2018.
The Princeton team, organized as Princeton Electric Speedboating, started work in February, 2022. It’s made up of more than 40 undergrad and grad students with a wide range of majors, but a heavy concentration on engineering and computer sciences.
They worked with Black Sheep Racing in California and Flux Marine in Rhode Island, starting with a hydroplane built in 1993 that had already set several gas-powered records. John Peeters, a professional racer with 61 records to his name, signed on as the driver.
Flux Marine developed a new 200-hp, three-phase AC electric powertrain specifically for that boat. The goal was to keep the weight low. As it turned out, the boat with Peeters on board weighed just 975 pounds.
The PES team took Big Bird (painted in Princeton’s tiger stripes) down to Lake Townsend for the record attempt. The course there is sanctioned by the American Power Boat Association for a world record attempt. For the record, a boat has to complete a one-kilometer run in one direction, and then complete a second run in the opposite direction. The two speeds are averaged for the record.
Andrew Robbins, a Princeton junior majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering and CEO of PES, said, “We were looking to break the Jaguar record right out of the gate.”
With that record now in the books, the Princeton team is working with Black Sheep Racing to build a new boat with a new battery pack. Their next goal: More than 140 mph.
Read more at https://www.princetonelectricspeedboating.com and see the video below:
