The Frisian Solar Challenge for boats

Finally, there’s a twist to the history of the Elfstedentocht which makes it perhaps one of the most significant sporting events in history and ever-so suitable for developing a new-age technology community with its “spirit”.

Unlike most long distance races, where individual glory is unanimously sought and there is just one victor, the Elfstedentocht has a history of “unified” finishes, which in itself displays a great deal about the psychology of the local area which is one of “for the common good.”

In 1943, two competitors who had fought it out across the distance of the event (Abe de Vries and Sipke Castelein), conspired to cross the line as one, so both would win. The idea caught on, with the leading group in 1947 of Piet Keizer, Auke Adema, Cor Jongert, Dirk van Duim and Sjouke Westra all linking hands too.

The practice was forbidden by the organization so there could be a clear winner (fair enough that’s what events traditionally mean), and was subsequently run in 1941, 1942, 1947 and in 1954, each time with an individual winner. The practice of linking hands reappeared in 1956, when Jan van der Hoorn, Aad de Koning, Jeen Nauta, Maus Wijnhout and Anton Verhoeven ignored the rule and crossed the finish line in unison, linked arm-in-arm. No winner was declared, and now as with all sporting events on the planet, individual glory in the event is now placed ahead of the common good. It must be said though, that the cooperative spirit of the region and its effects on commercial development appear very synergetic and having an aligned workforce and community is a powerful alchemy for success.

So when the sun is out, and has long since thawed the ice, the same 200 kilometres (now 220, but who’s counting) makes a perfect historical setting for a solar boat race, with its inherent advanced specialities and seeking a location with all the requisite commercial services for a particular endeavour.

Witness too, the fascinating evolution of the great city-to-city car races in the first few decades of the automobile and you will see the sort of gains we might see achieved at the event in 2008 and beyond..

The 2006 event certainly fired up economic activity in the area. The most noticeable commercial product to spin out of the first challenge is the Czeers EUR 650,000 solar power boat we covered recently. Now the first contenders for the 2008 event are emerging and promise even greater performance. The race, is something to behold.

Interestingly, the unique terrain of 220 km of canals means that there are sometimes bridges and dijkes which require the boats to be lifted from the water and carried by teams of people. When thin ice prevented use of certain parts of the canals in some prior races, skaters would be sometimes required to walk distances in their skates before they could resume their race on safely robust ice.

...continued