‘It’s a Challenge to manage everything the right way again’

He is leader of the competition committee Frisian Solar Challenge (FSC) for the third time, Jan Kooistra. The competition committee keeps an eye on the rules during the race. If there are any violations he will report this to the jury or to the chairman of the technical committee.

How do you become leader of the competition committee during a solar challenge?

‘I have got a lot experience as member of a competition committee in national en international sailing events. Frisian Solar Challenge is a different competition, but we make the rules the same way. Therefore is every race a new challenge, we have to manage everything the right way.’

What’s so special about FSC?

‘I think FSC is a great event and the cooperation between participants and volunteers is unique. Teams ”grow” during this event. I mean that during the week every team becomes one. To see the contact and relations between team members is a wonderful experience. You don’t want to miss that.’

What’s the special element?
‘Every race is a new challenge for our team of 15 people. We make sure that the race is played fair and safe. I’m looking forward to meet all participants again and to race the FSC.’

See you at the Prinsentuin, Leeuwarden!

Natasja Kesteloo: “Catched by the solar fever”

From the beginning Natasja Kesteloo is involved by the organisation of the solarboatrace. With her ‘solar roots’ she saw the FSC becoming a great event. Natasja is owner of Noordplan in Leeuwarden an office specialized in events  and she is also leader of the competition. She pulls the strings regarding to the organization of the challenge.

For the third edition in 2010, there is made a big progress in the quality, as well as in the organization as in the challenge. For example the minimum speed of sailing is changed, that makes the level of the race higher. Natasja gets a lot of energy from the collabaration between the teams and the extern partners. “Adolecents and professionals learn from each other. The mix between this two groups in one race is very special. That’s why it’s very pleasant to organize the event.”

Natasja’s hopes that the FSC in the future becomes a returning event.  “The FSC is the precursor of other (international) solarboatraces. For example the Brazilian solarboatrace used our regulation. We’re going to see each other about six months. I am looking forward to it, because what is more beautiful than to see solarboats sailing through the Frisian waters with the sun on your face?”

Challenges for an organizer

The preparations for the third edition of the Frisian Solar Challenge are in full swing. We want more national and international competitors. An edgier competition in the TOPclass, more media exposure, more innovations and more safety for the teams. Quite a job I sighed to myself at the beginning of the year.

Well, we have done a lot so far. The rules and regulations have improved on some major issues. Our own organisation is running a tighter job and, very important, the first teams have applied. Now we have to work hard in getting the money to fit our ambitions. The ruling economic climate means that we have to offer our partners value for money. This is a major part of the work Nils Beers and me are doing at the moment.

It is great to see and to welcome the initiatives that have come from the first two editions of our race. Brazil organised and hosted it’s first race last month and there are similar plans in India and Malaysia. Not to forget the race that was held on the Lago Maggiore in Italy last summer, I was fortunate enough to visit it. After that visit I had the chance to see Hans Bloem, Wim Zwaaiman and Jennifer Bundle who work at the JRS energy institute in Ispra. This is the team that did all the solar panel testing in the C Class in Leeuwarden last year.

All this inspired me very much. I hope we in the future unite all these institutes, teams and initiatives in a sort of World Federation For Solar Boat Events. That would be really great.

Andries van Weperen
Event director FSC 2010

A first Desafio Solar Brasil

When a colleague of ours came up with the idea to take part in the Frisian Solar Challenge, we all thought it was a bit of a crazy idea, but a nice one at that. None of us knew about photovoltaic energy and solar panels. We knew a lot about boats. At the Pólo Náutico, the naval architecture lab where we work, we produce about 25 boats per year. So building a boat has never scared us. But dealing with solar energy was another story.

We built our boat, a slender mono-hull, in a little more than three months, the Copacabana. Our boat surprised us. Despite the fact that we hadn’t tested the solar panels, had no idea what the insolation in The Netherlands is actually like, and had no experience navigating in canals, we did pretty well during the Frisian Solar Challenge and came fourth of our class, class A. But more importantly, we realized one thing: that using solar panels to produce energy to power small boats is not that complicated, and that it has huge potential in our country, Brazil, which gets on average 5,2 kWh/m2 of solar energy per day…. So we came back from The Netherlands with a new idea: to organize our own solar boat race.

The first Desafio Solar Brasil started end october! After the prologue the next six days were to be full of emotions. Twelve teams, nine catamarans and three mono-hulls, fought fiercely for a place on the podium. Because there are very few universities that offer naval engineering courses and few places that have facilities for building boats in Brazil, the Pólo Náutico had provided catamarans to the teams that couldn’t built their own hull – the majority of them. Designing the rest of the boat and building the electric system, however, was left up to them.

The six stages of the Desafio Solar Brasil took place in the bays around Paraty. This part of Brazil, of outstanding beauty, is called ‘the green coast’ because mountains covered with deep green Atlantic Rainforest fall straight into the sea.

After an intense week of competition, the boats were finally racing through the last stage, in the bay of Paraty. The technical committee and the judges of the competition declared Vento Sul, the boat from the Federal University of Santa Catarina first overall, in the catamaran class, followed by Peixe Galo of the Grael Institute, and Agua Viva, of the Instituto Nautico, from Paraty. There was a place for everyone on the podium in the mono-hull class. Carcará and Gabriela, two boats from the COPPE lab of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro stole the first and second places, and Ipanema, Copacabana’s cousin, named after the equally famous beach, but made out of carbon fiber, came third.

According to everyone who participated, the first Desafio Solar Brasil was a success. Despite a sometimes uncooperative weather, and a couple of technical problems (the transmitter that we bought to transmit the race live still hasn’t arrived!), everything went smoothly. A committee has already been created for the organization of the second Desafio Solar Brasil, and registration is open for the Desafio Solar Brasil 2010!

Read more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on Hiswa

Read more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on HiswaRead more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on HiswaRead more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on HiswaRead more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on HiswaRead more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on HiswaRead more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on HiswaRead more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on HiswaRead more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on HiswaRead more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on HiswaRead more about the Frisian Solar Challenge on Hiswa