Submarines are put to the test in Gosport firm's ocean basin

The teams, including young people from Texas and Auckland, tested their submarines at Gosport-based firm QinetiQ.

The company’s ocean basin, which is one of the largest freshwater tanks in the world, created the perfect space for races.

Judges watched how well the submarines performed underwater and a winner will be announced tomorrow.

Jon Bayliss, head of maritime platforms at QinetiQ said: ‘We were delighted to host, for the third time, the human-powered submarine race.

‘The development of engineering talent in the marine sector is something we support through a variety of events.

‘This particular challenge brings together teams 
from around the world to compete and share in a unique way.’

Students taking part were from universities in Warwick, Bath, Michigan, Texas, Washington, Auckland, Montreal, the Netherlands and Germany.

Bentely Altizer, captain of the University of Washington team, said: ‘We have a very unique situation where dozens of people get together and rally around a common goal.

‘It’s a really beautiful thing to see a group of people grow to be just as passionate as myself about a project like this.

‘We build submarines for the world to see and we build trust, respect and teamwork for ourselves.’

As previously reported in The News, the teams were able to show off their creations at Hilsea Lido last Saturday.

Lots of people took an interest in the submarines, which were tested in the pool at the lido before the race at QinetiQ.

The day was sponsored by Babcock International Group and other companies.

Jeff Owen, director of business growth, marine and technology division at Babcock, said: ‘We are passionate about developing young engineers.

‘These races are an excellent way of raising the awareness of the fact that the marine industry offers tremendous technology and engineering challenges to inspire future engineers.

‘With business activity in the countries of the participating universities, we’re delighted to encourage the development of engineering talent.’