Princeton University’s Electric Speedboat team has set a new world water speed record for an electric-powered boat, reaching an average speed of 114 mph (183 km/h or 99 knots) on Lake Townsend near Greensboro, North Carolina.
The record-smashing attempt was made yesterday on the American Power Boat Association’s sanctioned kilo course, breaking the previous record of 88.61 mph set by Jaguar Vector’s race boat in 2018.
The team, comprising over 30 students and alumni from Princeton University in New Jersey, embarked on this record-breaking journey with a well-prepared strategy and a robustly designed boat. The team used a 150 kW (200 hp) three-phase AC motor attached to a customized D-Stock hydroplane boat.
Capitalizing on the day’s perfect lake conditions, the team took to the course surrounded by the scenic beauty of fall trees.
John Peeters, a renowned hydroplane driver with numerous records under his belt, was at the helm during the feat. Peeters managed an impressive single direction speed of 111 mph. Without stopping to recharge the boat’s batteries, he then pushed even harder in the opposite direction, reaching a speed of 117 mph. The two speeds were averaged together, resulting in the new world record of 114 mph.
Peeters shared his thoughts after the achievement:
“We came together as a team with a dream. Today the hard work and ingenuity brought this dream into a reality. Rarely can one say, we are the greatest or best, but today we can say – fastest electric boat ever.”
The team’s victory came with its own set of challenges. It was discovered post-race that the only propeller shaft they had on hand was broken during the record run, preventing further attempts that day. Despite this setback, the team is optimistic and already looking ahead. Andrew Yates, Princeton Electric Speedboating’s Chief Technology Officer, revealed that after repairs are made, they aim to reach 120 mph in their next attempt, further pushing the boundaries of electric boat speed records.
Electric boats have seen a number of new records set over the last few years. Vision Marine became the first electric boat to break 100 mph just over a year ago, though the attempt didn’t include a two direction run and thus didn’t unseat Jaguar Vector’s 2018 title broken yesterday by Princeton’s team.
In the endurance world, Candela recently smashed the 24 hour distance record by covering 420 nautical miles in under a day.
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