This past weekend, Santa Monica High School students sponsored by the City of Santa Monica, competed for their second year in the Solar Cup, the nation’s largest solar boat competition put on by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. 36 high schools teams built a 16’ wooden hull, attended technical workshops at Occidental College, wrote engineering reports, produced a video about water conservation, prepared and presented a lesson plan on a water-related topic, and overcame the arduous tasks of purchasing materials under a restricted budget and outfitting their boats with solar, steering, electrical, and drive-train systems. Based at Lake Skinner in Temecula Valley, schools raced in two sprint and two endurance competitions. Samohi’s solar boat team composed of ten Marine Biology and Team Marine students finished 11th overall, improving from last year’s 16th place finish.
