When designing the propulsion system, several system requirements and constraints needed to be considered throughout the selection process. Competition rules do not allow the system voltage to exceed 52V nor allows the output voltage from the batteries to exceed 36V. These were our two main electrical constraints. Our naval engineers then provided us with power requirements we would need to achieve at the propeller to be competitive in the endurance and sprint events based on previous winning teams speeds. For the endurance event the boat would need to sustain approximately 3 HP at the propeller and for the sprint event the boat would need to achieve a maximum of approximately 20 HP at the propeller. The team utilized product specifications, performance curves, and professional resources to ensure selected system components required practical electrical inputs and with those inputs would be able to output our desired power.


One of the manufacturers the team contacted to see if their outboard system would work for our application was Elco Motor Yachts. After conducting several meetings with Elco and explaining to them the needs, requirements, and constraints of the competition, it was concluded that their EP 9.9 HP Outboard System could be used for our application. Elco has donated two of these motors to the team and will be helping configure the outboard systems to perform optimally throughout the competition events.