Roland DG Australia Donates Piloted Boat to Solar Boat Challenge

Penrith Lakes, Australia - In 2005, Roland DG Australia’s CEO, Marcus Adler, met the team behind Roland DG Japan’s award-winning piloted solar powered boat – and like all good ideas he filed this one away for use at a later date.

That later date arrived recently with the formation of SEES Ltd. (Social Environmental Economic Sustainability), a non-profit Australian organization championing alternative energy and environmentally responsible policy.

For its inaugural event last November SEES launched Australia’s first Solar Boat Challenge at the Sydney

Roland DG Australia Donates Piloted Boat to Solar Boat Challenge

2005 V8 Supercar champion Russell
Ingall offers words of encouragement to students.

International Regatta Centre at Penrith Lakes. Open to primary and secondary school students, the event attracted more than 60 entries in three categories: piloted boats, wire-guided boats and remote-control boats. The winning water craft? A redesigned piloted boat donated by Roland DG Australia.

Creating the winning boat required hard work and dedication on the part of Gorokan High School students plus some outside help.

“The challenge required our students to interact with their local community and businesses in a way I’ve not seen before,” Ian McCutheon, Gorokan Head Teacher of Industrial Arts, said. “We sought advice and received help from a range of local businesses who embraced the challenge after seeing the enthusiasm of our students.”

Assistance came from several local companies including Arizona Boating and Plastics, Battery World, Blue Gum Smash Repairs, Dooralong Valley Turf Farm and Marcus Engineering. Local solar power expert John Gardener advised on the performance and longevity aspects of solar power and energy usage, and Leah Ingram, the school’s Aboriginal Education Assistant, helped develop the boat design.

Ian McCutheon and students.

A total of 30 students took part in the project which took top honors in the piloted boat category and won excellence awards for boat design, graphic design and the PowerPoint presentation.

“We send many, many thanks to everyone involved and especially to Roland for providing us with the boat,” McCutheon said. “The best part of the experience is that it engaged the students tremendously – and generated new enthusiasm for learning throughout the entire school. I’m still amazed by the number of students I don’t even know who come up to me and congratulate us on the result. It’s a fantastic concept and is a real testimony to the level of excellence our students can achieve.”