DELFT — A team of students at the Delft University of Technology is building a foiled, carbon-fiber, monohull, hydrogen-powered boat they plan to sail across the North Sea to England in July.
The team is designing a monohull, zero-emission vessel named Aurora. Operations Manager Ellis Huistra, a management team member, says, “We are now in the production phase. The hull is being made, and other parts like the struts and the long legs the boat will use to fly above the waves are also being built now.”
“We were always quite successful there until now,” says Huistra. “This year, we want to focus on the parts where we struggled in previous years, and that is foiling on high waves. That’s why we came up with our own challenge: crossing to England. We want to improve in terms of seaworthiness and reliability.”
The 2024 design is similar to last year’s boat: a standard speedboat model with a v-bottom and a flat deck. The hull model is less critical with a foiling boat because it floats above the water.
The 2023 boat incurred considerable damage from waves crashing over the bow when it was supposed to sail through the water instead of above it. Seawater flowed across the deck and got into the boat’s electronics. The hull must also be sufficiently seaworthy for these rough moments.
“That’s why the new boat’s hull is longer and wider, for more stability,” says Huistra. “The bow is sharper and also has a chine. This deflects the bow wave and reduces spray. The struts are longer, and the foils are bigger.”
And the cockpit is better protected against waves that might still come over the bow.
The students have set aside a two-week window for the July crossing. The route will not directly cross the North Sea but depart from Dunkirk, France, where the crossing is shortest. The expected sailing time is 16 hours.
Details of the 2024 hydrogen boat:
Length: 8.00 metres
Width: 2.65 metres
Take-off speed: 28 km/h
Cruising speed: 40 km/h
Fuel cell power: 40 kW
Weight: 1800 kg
Hydrogen tanks: 3 hydrogen tanks of 8.4 kg H2 each
Foils: The foils create an upward lift. The strut length is 2.07 meters, the wing span is up to 1.7 meters
TU Delft Hydro Motion Team – TU Delft Solar Boat Team
