Diver powered submarine races come to Europe

They will also test the engineering expertise and stamina of enterprising university students from three continents.

The eISR will take place in QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin, the largest freshwater tank in Europe, which at 122m long by 61m wide and 5.5m deep has the capacity of 16 Olympic swimming pools and is normally used to assess the manoeuvrability of scale ship and submarine models in different sea conditions. From 25 through 28 June it will be the setting for teams from Canada, France, Oman, UK, and USA. They will all have designed and built their own submarines and will then race them flooded, piloted and pedalled by a scuba diver, with the teams constantly modifying their craft during the week to perfect their performance. Typically the submarines range in length from 3m to 4m and travel at up to 7knots.

“This is the first time these races have been held outside the USA and already teams have registered from École Polytechnique de Montréal; École de Technologie Supérieure, Quebec; Sultan Qaboos University, Oman; University of Bath, UK; University of Michigan, and Texas A&M University, both from the USA,” explained race director Dr William Megill, FIMarEST, Director of the Ocean Technologies Lab in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Bath, who has taken teams to the US races on three occasions . “We are hoping there may be several more entries from either side of the Atlantic.

“The Races combine an engineering design challenge with the technical skill development, and sets them in a unique and exciting sporting competition. There are very real applications for the science and technology employed in these craft as we seek to find ever more effective ways of exploring the waters of the world using autonomous underwater vehicles.”

The challenge will run over a week, with a first day of final readying, ballasting, dry judging and diver checkouts. The races proper are planned to start on the second day, and run through to the end of the fifth morning. The final afternoon will be reserved for a playoff round, where the best boats will go head to head. Awards will be made for speed, manoeuvrability (the course includes a slalom element which has never been tried before), and design, the latter to encourage creativity and innovation.

The eISR is sponsored by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), the Society for Underwater Technology, and QinetiQ. The judging panel will be chaired by Vice Admiral Sir Robert Hill, KBE, FIMarEST, and consists of experienced submarine engineers.

The eISR will play host on 27 June to a graduate fair and to master classes on underwater technology in all its guises, and formal and informal social events will take place throughout the week. Further information on all aspects of the Race Week is available at www.subrace.eu