RE: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Human Powered Sub Races update

[chris@gatorbucs.com]

The OMER 5 actually netted a final run of 8.039 knots.  This was
previously thought to be unattainable by any human powered subs. As hard
as it is for anyone to compete with this team's financial backing it is
still an amazing feat and I am happy for them.

Chris
<')))><

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Human Powered Sub Races update
> From: "Jay K. Jeffries" <bottomgun@mindspring.com>
> Date: Sat, June 30, 2007 9:23 am
> To: <personal_submersibles@psubs.org>
> 
> Here is the latest in for the races.
> 
> R/Jay
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Respectfully,
> 
> Jay K. Jeffries
> 
> Andros Is., Bahamas
> 
>  
> 
> A skimmer afloat is but a submarine, so poorly built it will not plunge.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-flpfausub0630nbjun30,0,
> 3562249.story?coll=sfla-news-palm 
> 
> FAU team falls short in International Submarine meet 
> 
> Members finish second at races in Maryland
> 
> By Scott Travis
> South Florida Sun-Sentinel
> 
> June 30, 2007
> 
> With the odds stacked against them, members of Florida Atlantic
> University's
> submarine team remained hopeful that their vessel could recapture its
> distinction as fastest in the world.
> 
> But the human-powered submarine team fell short of its goal this week
> at the
> ninth International Submarine Races in Bethesda, Md.
> 
> A well-financed Canadian submarine, OMER 5, set a new speed record of 7.9
> knots, roughly 9 mph. FAU's sub placed second in the two-person,
> propeller-driven sub category, with a speed of 4.795 knots, or just more
> than 5 mph. 
> 
> The race course is a 100-meter, 22-foot-deep, 50-foot-wide concrete
> trough
> owned by the U.S. Navy at the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Submarines
> run,
> one at a time, 20 or more times throughout the week.
> 
> There was a time when Florida Atlantic was the team to beat. The FA
> U-boat
> held a spot in the 1996 Guinness Book of Records for fastest
> human-powered
> submarine, with a time of about 6 knots, or 7 mph.
> 
> But with an aging 17-year-old vessel, team members say frequent
> mechanical
> problems slowed them.
> 
> "I think everyone here is a little disappointed," said team captain Joe
> Birch, 22, of Boca Raton. "We were unable to get the sub to actually
> function correctly for one full time. Something seemed to go wrong every
> time we went down."
> 
> Team members, students in FAU's Department of Ocean Engineering, spent
> $300
> to buy a new spare air regulator, following a malfunction. Two hatches on
> the sub also failed to work, requiring crew members to replace the
> fiberglass and repaint the craft.
> 
> They're also competing against a well-financed team from the
> University of
> Quebec's École de Technologie Supérieure. The sub is complete with
> electronic underwater navigation systems and other computer mechanisms.
> 
> "We have seen an explosion of remarkably innovative new designs this year
> compared to past races," head judge Claude Brancart said.
> 
> Not so for FAU.
> 
> "Everything for us is completely manual," Birch said.
> 
> But FAU team members say their competitors better watch out in 2009, the
> next time the competition is held. They hope to retire their sub,
> among the
> oldest of the 23 in the completion, and replace it with more efficient
> model. They're looking for donations to build the sub, which they
> estimate
> could cost $25,000 to $30,000.
> 
> "If we have money and people willing to put in the time to design
> this, we
> could quite possibly set another world record," Birch said.
> 
> The FA U-Boat is a snug, 12-foot-long, 2-foot-wide submarine. A metal bar
> divides the space between the pilot on the bottom and the stroker, who
> pedals, on top. The crew members use SCUBA gear to breathe underwater.FAU
> officials and sub team members say the FA U-Boat was a flawless
> performer in
> its early years. "But it's like an old car," Birch said. "The more you
> drive
> it, the more stuff you're going to have to fix on it."
> 
> Scott Travis can be reached at stravis@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6637.




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