Slow boat to Fayetteville : Turkish Solar Splash team’s journey covers 6,000 miles
Posted on Saturday, June 21, 2008
Cansin Ozden has a concerned look on his face as he zips around the pieces of a black boat. It's a warm Tuesday afternoon and he, along with five teammates, are swarming their solarpowered craft in a parking lot alongside Lake Elmdale near Elm Springs.
They, and their boat, are about 6, 000 miles away from where their journey started, in Istanbul, Turkey. A lot can happen in 6, 000 miles.
"It takes 17 days to ship (the boat ) from Istanbul to Savannah (Ga. ) and then three more days to Fayetteville. We have to get the boat to shipping two weeks in advance," Ozden explains in a thick Turkish accent. "Fortunately, there is no damage."
Over an hour's time, between cigarette and Turkish Delight candy breaks, the pieces come together into what looks like a boat. The team must test it to work out any lastminute kinks before Thursday's qualifying rounds at Lake Fayetteville for Solar Splash, the only international, intercollegiate solarpowered boat competition in the world.
Fayetteville again plays host to the competition, in which 17 college engineering programs put boats powered by the sun in the water and break Lake Fayetteville's usual no-wake rule.
The international contest is hosted by the University of Arkansas. Teams compete in two events: one that tests the longevity of each boat's solarcharged batteries, and one that tests the speed of each one's engine.
For the Turkish team, a group of seven students from Istanbul Technical University, the event represents three year's work. Ozden explained that the school heard about the competition four years ago, but it was not able to get the funding to build a boat and participate. The interested students began to study ways to design and make the boat and all its inner-workings. Finally, in 2007, the team made the trip. In its first year at Solar Splash, the men took third place overall.
"This year, our boat is much faster," Ozden said.
The trip is so expensive - about $ 30, 000 - that the team could have built a second boat if it hadn't made the trip. Ten members of the team were supposed to come to Arkansas, team member Berkin Kilie said, but three ran into visa difficulties and had to stay home.
The rest of the team mumble and shout to each other in Turkish. Ozden describes the booming city that is Istanbul. He said it's crowded and not as peaceful as Fayetteville.
"In Istanbul, I cannot drive. In Fayetteville, I can," he said with a laugh. "It's a relaxing place, I think."
While working, Ozden talks about Fayetteville's night-life and how much he and his teammates love it. When the boats are in the paddock, the group grabs food from Slim Chickens, a place Ozden said he and his teammates could not wait to visit after trying it last year.
"We dreamed of Slim Chickens," he said, garnering nods of agreement from the rest of his crew.
They likewise anticipate a return trip to Dickson Street, where they've enjoyed Fayetteville's night life. Bars like Speak Easy and George's Majestic Lounge top their favorites list.
The Turkish team's resilience and determination leaves local participants amazed. Bill Springer, professor of mechanical engineering at the UA, expected the team would make to the event last year, but the biggest surprise was that it came back this year.
Springer said the UA team has to work hard to gear up and move its boat to the lake. He can't imagine how hard it is to move a team and a boat 6, 000 miles.
"They're good, hard-working kids," he said.
Flash forward to 11: 51 a.m. Thursday morning.
The team is once again swarming their boat, but this time it's sitting in the boat launch at Lake Fayetteville. Competition officials are examining it before it begins the qualifying rounds. Skipper Ersin Demir slowly paddles his way to the starting line. The other members are at the end of the paddock nervously waiting for Demir to start the engine they've worked so hard on.
Demir steers the boat around the buoys for the endurance qualifying test. He pulls the boat back toward the ramp while Ozden wades through the green water to help pull it out. The test went perfectly.
Now begins the job of refitting the boat for the sprint qualifying round. They drag the boat trailer back to a tent and begin a four-hour process of revamping the boat's configuration from longevity to speed. Plenty of pizza and Turkish Delight breaks offer welcome distractions to the hammering, wiring and electrical taping required in the switch.
The team is getting a lot of fast food during its stay.
"In Istanbul, generally we eat at home and cook our own meals," Kilie said.
He is looking forward to discovering how his team and boat perform. He's excited because his boat is already ahead of last year's team in points for technical design, 84 this year compared to 75 last year. Kilie also looks at the ground as he explains that this is his last year at Solar Splash because he recently graduated.
"These guys will come back, I think," he said.
It's 2: 37 Friday afternoon and the team is nervous. Not so much about Solar Splash, but about the European Cup soccer game they're missing.
"Turkey is playing Croatia," Kilie explains. "We have yet to hear the score."
A quick phone call puts them further on the edge. It's 0-0 with about 25 minutes left.
"That makes me really nervous," Kilie said with a uneasy smile.
A change of subject brings their confidence back. Their boat has a good chance to get into the finals for the sprint races today. Kilie explains that they've tested the boat so many times, they've got a pretty good idea of the times it will achieve the next day.
"Last year, our average (endurance race ) speed was five knots; this year, we're averaging about six to seven knots," he said. The speed should give them more laps than the previous year and give them a better chance to win overall.
Ozden slowly walks over and lets everyone know how tired he is. The day had an early start, and the night before included a trip to Speak Easy for some dancing and drinking.
"We were very tired. Even our boat was tired in the sprints," he joked.
He said the night out was a mandatory celebration for the Turkish team, considering all the success it had in the preliminaries.
If the team does well overall once the results are announced Sunday, the celebration will have to wait until after the return trip to Instanbul.
With two more days of racing ahead of them, their spirits are high and their boat is steady. Come what may, Demir voiced the team's confidence.
"We've done well so far. Why not be the champions ?"
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