Solar Freaks

TonyB wrote:Congratulations to all the teams which scored a place, and well done to all the tassie teams.
Its unfortunate the weather was crap, but on the bright side, its good preparation for the nationals.
Glad to see the solarMPPT wheels been utilised. They run good with nice clean bearings.

Weather wasn't all that bad during the actual racing as we ended up having quite a few races in 50-90% sun range. The biggest pain was having to get the water off the track after every rain delay and also the wind.

TonyB wrote:Some great designs there i must say. LMAO at the gillard mobile.

Yeah, everyone had a good laugh on Sunday. The team need to still add a speech bubble saying "Moving Forward".
A few of the younger kids that were there watching ended up doing some of there own commentary on some of the car's races which was a crack up.
It's looking likely that New Town will get a second spot at the national event and I'm guessing that they'll be making a new and improved version of their second "Ascend From Darkness" car. Could end up being quicker than the Gillard mobile.

TonyB wrote:Either way, if a NSW car was on your track theyll be getting 18s.

Not in those conditions they wouldn't have. Well, maybe a "good" car like say the 2009 test car would have gone under 19 seconds but that would have also been advantaged due to having a lower cross-sectional area.
The track record still sits at 17.03s which was set back in 2006 by the Hobart College team Bunganana which then went on to pwn all those NSW teams (on their home turf might I add) and win the national event that year.

Hi Guys.
I just want to say what a nightmare it is to setup the track especially with 1-2 people + the occasionally helpers. I think we set the record for the longest set up at 5hour-ish.

Anyway I must apologies and take full responsibility about the gate handle. We drilled a little hole in it! Heeheheeee, never trust me again. But saying that, who the beep put the handle into the support beam for the hill? We had all the beams connected and then found that something was blocking one of the hole for the legs. We decide to give it a drill before we too the beams apart to see what was cause the blockage. To our surprise it was the handle. Who's idea was it to put it in there. Was impossible to get out! Marc, heads up, the handle will be back in the same place where we found it. Joking.

Also a heads up to all teams competing tomorrow and Friday. Prepare for the chance of coming off the track, lots of bumps here and there!

Goodluck everyone!

jhg wrote:Anyway I must apologies and take full responsibility about the gate handle. We drilled a little hole in it! Heeheheeee, never trust me again. But saying that, who the beep put the handle into the support beam for the hill? We had all the beams connected and then found that something was blocking one of the hole for the legs. We decide to give it a drill before we too the beams apart to see what was cause the blockage. To our surprise it was the handle. Who's idea was it to put it in there. Was impossible to get out! Marc, heads up, the handle will be back in the same place where we found it. Joking.

LMAO.

jhg wrote:Also a heads up to all teams competing tomorrow and Friday. Prepare for the chance of coming off the track, lots of bumps here and there!

On that note, just thought that I'd let everyone know that we will probably be using the Tas track for the national event in November.

Marc

I wonder how things went in the West today with seeding and everything? Any news Jun?

Eagerly awaiting some pics and car data here..

Just heard from Jun and he mentioned that Belridge are seeded 1st with a 16.32s lap in 89% sun. That's almost up there with the 2009 test car. About time we started seeing some fast cars....this year's nationals are going to go off. Looks like it's going to be pretty difficult to predict a winner with so many good cars from all around the country coming down to Hobart in November.

Hi all,

Just received a DVD in the mail today with a few photos of the top St Patrick's cars from last Sunday's Tas event. The pics below are of 2nd (Penny), 3rd (Red Bandit), 4th (The Magic Johnson) and 5th (Freddo) placegetters.








I'll see if I can also get some photos of the Queechy cars over the next week or so.

Wonder how things ended up panning out over in WA today?

Marc

The day has finally come! Winthrop has won the state event! Closely followed by Aquanis, Belridge and Girrawheen. I was informed that Belridge was running without a maximiser all day! Congrates too all the school. Guildford and Karatha have been given a wild car each but I'm pretty sure theres a few pretty keen schools which will bring an extra just in case.There was a few drama but nothing we couldnt handle. Our round robin took 2 hours or something. As a result we didnt include the second chance system. From member the fastest time for the day was 16.3ish by Winthrop but I will check again later at 96% sunlight.

Once again perfect weather for the two days! with sunlight progessing from 80 to 96 and back down after 1pm. No such thing as sudden fluctuations!

As congrates to Goosebery hills with their boat, followed by parkwood, Rawlinson and Parkwood. Although Rawlinson should have been ranked second. Goosebery and Rawlinson had the two fastest boats hitting mid 15 second. In fact Goosebery got a time of 15.12sec hand held.
Again congrates.

Sorry no photo's' was too busy with everything. Any W.A. members have photos?

Didn't I say a while back that Winthrop were my pick for the WA event this year Jun?

Sounds like a good day of racing. Well done to all the teams involved and congratulations to all the award winners and placegetters. Having the top 4 plus 2 wildcards from all different schools sounds great.
At this stage I don't think that WA will get any more than 7 spots at the nationals and so someone over there going to have to make a decision about where this last car is going to come from. We won't be running any official race-offs over here and so if WA wants to sort the final spot out this way then it's going to need to be organised by the teams and done on the Friday afternoon.

jhg wrote:As congrats to Goosebery hills with their boat, followed by parkwood, Rawlinson and Parkwood. Although Rawlinson should have been ranked second. Goosebery and Rawlinson had the two fastest boats hitting mid 15 second. In fact Goosebery got a time of 15.12sec hand held.
Again congrats.

Surely you mean mid 5 second mark???

Yes. I keep thinking its cars. And that's even to fast. mid 5sec is pretty fast in 90plus sun. 4.2sec was the fastest last year and so with the 80grams extra isn't too bad this year. Certainly test the hydrodynamic.

Also we got to disqualify a few cars. This includes one of Winthrops cars which pulled the cars back from the gate and accidentally let it roll when the gate was half open. This meant it was picking up moment when the other car was stationary. Although they won the 3rd race against the Guildford car. Also Aquanis got dq from Mr Adler for touching their car because they forgot to turn on their car. Say this they lose the race anyway. Hahahaaa. W.A. doesnt allow teams to touch their cars after the gate is opened. Another car was dq I think. So yes, we played a strick game over here in W.A.

If you thought nationals was great last year in W.A. it was absolutely amazing this year (my opinion). Infact I've enjoyed this event more than any W.A, events I've ever gone too. They had alot of other competition during breaks for the boat to keep the p.s. student engaged. Inlcuding, student and teacher vsing in hoola hop, conserving energy (who can carry the large water refill boats the longest), ball catching game etc. What was funny was 92.9 or some other sponsor had heaps of V drinks for volunteers. And too much that they were handed out to primary school student! LOL

Sorry for grammer, dinner time!

A very well deserved victory for Winthrop! their cars are looking very well built and it was nice to see them get the win after coming close a few times over the last few years.

I suspect Aquinas haven't shown their true hand yet, the car that made it to the final was the slowest of their three after the other two ran into trouble. One was damaged in a stopping incident and the other one was knocked out after its drive wheel got bogged down in a wear-groove on the start line. The former seemed to be noticeably faster than the car that eventually did make it to the final so it'll be interesting to see what happens at nationals.

miseli wrote:Didn't I say a while back that Winthrop were my pick for the WA event this year Jun?

What made you think they would be the best Marc? I think they're running more power than what they have in the past.

Redlands wrote:What made you think they would be the best Marc? I think they're running more power than what they have in the past.

Just had a feeling. Yes, I was the one that suggested to them that they try adding an extra module or two to their panels. There's nothing wrong with 8 engelecs though and this setup on a good car could very easily win the national event in November.

Redlands wrote:I suspect Aquinas haven't shown their true hand yet, the car that made it to the final was the slowest of their three after the other two ran into trouble. One was damaged in a stopping incident and the other one was knocked out after its drive wheel got bogged down in a wear-groove on the start line. The former seemed to be noticeably faster than the car that eventually did make it to the final so it'll be interesting to see what happens at nationals.

With so many different WA schools looking to come over for the nationals, chances are that Aquinas will only get the one spot in the comp. As such, someone's going to have to make a decision about which of the three cars is going to be entered.

Marc

So no one took any car scrutineering photos then? Anyone take any other sorts of photos or videos? Were race times and car data recorded at least?

Lets hope our good friend Mr Matthews from Winthrop can work some magic.
"I know you are reading!"
Everyone is very interested over east especially because W.A is going to win nationals again this year. Hahahaaa. Bring it on NSW and Tas. I will look into the 7th wildcard and will make a suggestion. If we look at seeding of the cars and the top 8 and which car didn't make the cut then Girrawheen - Falcon should have the wildcard since it was ranked second. Due to unknown circumstances there car was damage and not fixable to the first days conditions. Aquinas will follow with their car seed 5th. However I might also look into getting a different school!

I just want to make a final congratulations to SEA for the wonderful event they held, especially being their first year. Two amazing events both run over two day. I certainly enjoyed it and cant imagine how amazing it will be next year. Also little creatures for all the volunteers after packing up was amazing. Thanks again.

I just wanted to say what a pain it was to pack up. The creates are bowed and the track panels wouldn't go in. We had to force the creates higher. Can someone please look into this from NSW. But on the bright side there was 10plus hands to help pack up. As a result I was able to sit and relax watching the other volunteers help.

jhg wrote:Everyone is very interested over east especially because W.A is going to win nationals again this year. Hahahaaa. Bring it on NSW and Tas.

Haha, dream on. 16.3s in 96% sun won't be good enough against the top Tas cars.

jhg wrote:I just wanted to say what a pain it was to pack up. The creates are bowed and the track panels wouldn't go in. We had to force the creates higher. Can someone please look into this from NSW. But on the bright side there was 10plus hands to help pack up. As a result I was able to sit and relax watching the other volunteers help.

On the topic of tracks, I would just like to confirm that the Tas track is going to be used for the nationals. Given that this track is close to 20m longer than the NSW one, finals could be reduced to 1 lap in overcast conditions. Not sure about higher sunlights yet.

Great to hear, maybe we wont hear as much complaining about the track than what we did today!

jhg wrote:Great to hear, maybe we wont hear as much complaining about the track than what we did today!

What??? How anyone can complain about the NSW track is beyond me. A well designed and set up car shouldn't have any problems staying on.

Here are the seeding results from the time trials at the WA event.


Enjoy.

Anyone from WA have any Photos?? Jun, some car data would be nice??
Did you record the Vmp, Imp, P, and FF??

I think we need to spilt this thread into separate NSW, TAS and WA threads. Who agrees??