CPEP Boat Rules and Specs

HS PROPELLER POWERED ELECTRIC
BOAT CHALLENGE

Challenge: Using prefabricated CPEP kits, high school students are challenged to design,
construct, evaluate, test and enter a single-hull propeller powered electric boat in the CPEP Day
competition.

Core Outcomes: High School students will demonstrate/define/illustrate the following: concepts
of buoyancy, velocity, density and displacement, Archimedes’ Principle and Newton’s Third
Law of Physics.

Rules: Each high school student team will construct a single-hull boat using the kits provided by

CPEP. Each kit will contain the following:
·     (1) 2”x 4”x 9” Styrofoam Hull Blank
·     (1) Electric Motor
·     (1) 9-Volt Battery
·     (1) 9-Volt Battery Connector
·     (1) 1” Dia. Propeller
·     (1) 4” x 2mm Drive Shaft
·     (1) Flexible Drive Coupler

These materials will allow teams to build a competitive propeller powered electric boat.  Please
keep in mind that additional items such as an on/off switch or ballast weight may be used to
enhance performance.  However, the original 9-Volt battery, motor, and propeller supplied in the
kit must be used for the CPEP Day competition.  Teachers will be supplied with (2) test batteries
for classroom performance testing.

Boat Design: Boats may be constructed using any Styrofoam single-hull design. However, hull
designs must conform to the following standards:
·     No more than 4” (10.2cm) in overall width and no more than 9” (22.8cm) in overall length.
·     Must be designed to race in a 4.25” (10.8cm) wide by 10’ (3m) long vinyl track.
·     All boats must be evaluated, modified, and tested prior to the CPEP Day competition.

Judging & Scoring: The official tracks for this event are 10 feet long and approximately 4.25
inches wide (inside dimension). One member from the team will bring the boat to the track, place
the boat in the water and hold the boat in place until the start signal is given. False starts and
shoving the boat forward will result in disqualification. Each team will be provided two time
trials per boat (the fastest of the two trials will be recorded). General boat repair can be made
between the two time trials.

*In addition: an award will be given for a boat with the same hull design specifications as
previously mentioned that incorporates environmentally sensitive materials, as opposed to the
Styrofoam that is currently used in the models.