Gdańsk University of Technology students at The Ultimate Solar Boat Challenge
By Marek Grzybowski
The Student Association of Ship Technology KORAB from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Ship Technology of the Gdańsk University of Technology successfully completed the prestigious The Ultimate Solar Boat Challenge in the Netherlands. Students from Poland were the only team from outside the Netherlands to complete all stages of the race. The solar boat from Gdańsk covered over 160 kilometers in three days. Team KORAB took sixth place in the general classification.
Ten teams, mainly from the Netherlands, started in The Ultimate Solar Boat Challenge. The Polish team successfully completed each stage, proving the reliability of the design. The sailing took place in difficult conditions. There were minor technical failures. The team from Gdańsk repaired the failures. Each day the boat was ready for another start. The team from Great Britain did not reach the finish line.
Innovative solutions for energy use
KORAB students built an innovative hydrofoil POL32. The ship stands out with its own solutions in the field of energy management and sailing strategy. The ship has modern, highly efficient MPPT systems, which allowed for maximum use of moderately efficient panels;
the POL32 hydrofoil has a new engine that works efficiently even at low voltage and variable load,
Sailing the ship is supported by remote telemetry, which allowed monitoring the boat’s parameters in real time and making tactical decisions based on data, not assumptions.
By monitoring the cell voltage, temperatures, charge level and energy consumption, the team could adjust the speed and sailing strategy to avoid critical power drops and effectively manage resources.
The POL32 hydrofoil telemetry system also enabled quick data analysis after each stage, which helped in the ongoing optimization of operation and allowed for competition with other teams right to the finish line.
The scientific supervisor of the KORAB team is Dr. Eng. Wojciech Leśniewski.
During the competition, the solutions used by the students met with great interest from other teams. Many competitors asked about the way the systems worked and appreciated their effectiveness despite their simplicity. The differences between the boats result not so much from the ideas, but from the possibilities of their implementation – and creativity and determination can effectively compete with budgets that are many times larger.
The team representing the Gdańsk University of Technology during The Ultimate Solar Boat Challenge 2025 consists of: Eng. Mateusz Bartuś, Maksym Domkowski, Piotr Demski, Dawid Dubiel, Gerard Gallas, Łukasz Gede-Niewiadomski, Eng. Konrad Kohut, Eng. Aleksander Longa, Tymoteusz Maleńczyk, Eng. Miłosz Tokarczyk, Eng. Piotr Pruszko, Joanna Rakieć, Julian Serkieza, MSc. Eng. Michał Struk, Wojciech Wierzbicki.
Source and photo: KORAB