Hundreds of north-east students braved wind, rain and even snow yesterday morning for an innovative race along the coast.
The annual land yacht race took place at Balmedie Beach with some 130 students competing to be crowned champion.
The third-year Robert Gordon University engineering students split into 19 teams and were tasked to design and build their own contraptions before being pitted against each other.
These were created using old bicycles, tarpaulins and wheels and were required to be propelled by pedal or mechanical power.
No pushing or pulling of the craft was allowed, regardless of wind conditions – which were particularly volatile yesterday.
The winning team – Team K – completed the 328ft time trail in 22.46 seconds.
Module coordinator, Sha Jihan, said: “The wind speed was good throughout the race event, amidst the cold rain showers which delayed the start of the race.
“All teams arrived with high levels of motivation and braved the weather condition to test their land yachts.
“It was a challenging task for students to have tested their land yacht to their full potential and they have experienced the effect the forces of nature have on their land yacht design and build.
“The robustness of the structural and sail designs of these teams met the challenge posed by the strong winds and soft sand.”
Allan Richmond, 21, team co-ordinator for Holy Ship craft said: “The yacht was still in one piece by the end of our first run, so that was good.
“The project itself has been great fun, it’s been a great learning curve. It’s good to get hands-on and actually build something.
“It was very wet, this morning, but at least it’s windy as I know in previous years that it hasn’t been.”
Caitlin Dow, 21, team coordinator for Dodgy and Dangerous, said: “The race went pretty well – we weren’t expecting too much, but I think we got quite lucky.
“Our yacht is a lot lighter than some of the others, but most of the weight comes from the mast which is why it’s been able to hold up when some have snapped.”
The students have been working since February on crafting the inventions.
