We have been experiencing some problems with the photos on this blog; for a while today, all the images were unavailable. This is one of the reasons why we have decided to move our blog, it also means we can use our snazzy domain name! All new posts will now be on the new site.
http://teamtarka.co.uk/
The new site will be easier for us to update from the states, so you shouldn't miss any of the action.
Monday, 29 March 2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Sprint Propeller Started
The EDMC have started to manufacture our propeller today. So far, they have cleaned up the billet of aluminium and machined out the taper for the prop shaft. Next they will cut the keyway before starting machining of the blades tomorrow.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Carbon Fibre!!!
The inside of the boat is now nearly complete. We just need to work out the engine mounts and put in the final bulkhead.
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Photos of the boat (in progress)
Here are some photos of the hull being built. You can probably see just how messy epoxy resin is to work with!
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Monday, 1 March 2010
Messing about in a boat
Today we blew the cobwebs off of last years boat. We took it out for a spin for a photographer (these are not his pictures!).
We took the opportunity to do some real world testing whilst on the water and set up a differential GPS system to collect centimetre accurate position and speed data. We tested the boat with and without an interceptor - a device to control the trim that we are planning to implement on the new boat. It was surprisingly effective. With the interceptor, the boat rode very flat with little wake. We are still analysing the GPS data to work out exactly how much difference it made in the real world, but here are some photos of the day!
We took the opportunity to do some real world testing whilst on the water and set up a differential GPS system to collect centimetre accurate position and speed data. We tested the boat with and without an interceptor - a device to control the trim that we are planning to implement on the new boat. It was surprisingly effective. With the interceptor, the boat rode very flat with little wake. We are still analysing the GPS data to work out exactly how much difference it made in the real world, but here are some photos of the day!
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Building Tarka II (Part 1)
After the model testing, we were pretty happy with the design. Now its time to start building the real thing!
We got the frames water jet cut in Portsmouth. These were then screwed to our extremely sturdy and perfectly level eleven legged table - that got some funny looks in Ikea, I can tell you! Stringers were then fitted into recesses in the frame to form the shape of the hull!
We tapped up all of the frame with parcel tape - fingers crossed this will help release the boat from the frames when it is complete!
We next added core cell foam to the frame work which is very stiff until you heat it up. When it is warm, it is flexible and allows easy forming over the frames. This allows us to get a nice smooth shape that we can later bond the carbon fibre to!
Coming soon... Carbon Fibre photos and timelapse of the build so far!
We got the frames water jet cut in Portsmouth. These were then screwed to our extremely sturdy and perfectly level eleven legged table - that got some funny looks in Ikea, I can tell you! Stringers were then fitted into recesses in the frame to form the shape of the hull!
We tapped up all of the frame with parcel tape - fingers crossed this will help release the boat from the frames when it is complete!
We next added core cell foam to the frame work which is very stiff until you heat it up. When it is warm, it is flexible and allows easy forming over the frames. This allows us to get a nice smooth shape that we can later bond the carbon fibre to!
Coming soon... Carbon Fibre photos and timelapse of the build so far!
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Tank Testing (Take 2)
Time for the second set of tank testing. This time with the new hull! Same tank as last time (Solent Uni) but this time with a bigger model. We went for a 1/3 scale model instead of the 1/4 scale that we used last time to give us more weight to play with. Last time it was very difficult to do everything with 200 grams of ballast weight, this time we have 2.5 kilos to move about!
This was one of the endurance runs. You can see the trim has been adjusted to get the bow in the water and the transom just out of the water. This gives the lowest resistance at the stern of the boat and only slightly increase wave making resistance (energy used to make the wake). This looks like it could be a winning design for the endurance race...
This is a sprint run. So shouldn't the bow be out of the water? Well no. The model was fitted with an interceptor (a trim control device) to keep the trim flat and reduce resistance - you can see the spray from the interceptor at the stern! Amazing what 5 millimetres of vertical planking at the stern can do!
This was one of the endurance runs. You can see the trim has been adjusted to get the bow in the water and the transom just out of the water. This gives the lowest resistance at the stern of the boat and only slightly increase wave making resistance (energy used to make the wake). This looks like it could be a winning design for the endurance race...
This is a sprint run. So shouldn't the bow be out of the water? Well no. The model was fitted with an interceptor (a trim control device) to keep the trim flat and reduce resistance - you can see the spray from the interceptor at the stern! Amazing what 5 millimetres of vertical planking at the stern can do!
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