SubRacing Series
SubRacing Series is a sport for the 21st century. It will push the boundaries of technological innovation and tests participants' performance in the face of extreme adversity. Only those with a true pioneering spirit, ingenuity and the strongest fortitude will be victorious.
18d:3h:50m:32s
Until Proof of Concept 2 - Invitational in Arinaga Bay, Gran Canaria - 21 September 2024
What is SRS
The racing of personal submarines is a sport for the 21st century, exploiting recent advances in underwater video, materials and diving technologies which showcases exploration and conservation of the undersea world. It will push the boundaries of technological innovation and test participants' performance in the face of extreme adversity. Only those with a true pioneering spirit, ingenuity and the strongest fortitude will be victorious as miniature submarines race against each other.
The current races feature our "Human-powered" class, where prototypes developed by teams of talented graduate students compete in Open Water, with the two-man class expected to debut in 2025. In time, the Sub-Racing Series will also offer an online gaming and E-sports ecosystem to stimulate engagement with younger and more diverse audiences.
A race against time, then a race against each other
The human-powered class of racing submarines have been built and raced for over 15 years, mainly by graduate students as part of their Masters degrees. They are given the simple objective to design, build and then race a human-powered "wet" submarine, but only 6-8 months to complete the project. This short timescale makes this a "real-life" full sized engineering project with the challenges of assimilating complex subjects such as hydro-dynamics, buoyancy, scuba diving, and materials processing to create a working submarine in the timescale. The project is in fact a high-level STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) project. The students need to use skills from all these disciplines to calculate factors such as weight, displacement, buoyancy, propulsion and the impact on the pilot and the external environment.
Initial tests are carried out in inland pools, then at the European International Submarine Racing in the UK or the International Submarine Racing event in the USA the teams compete against the clock. The final lap is then to attend the Gran Canaria Invitational run by the Sub-Racing Series where teams compete head to head in Open Water.
Two-man, powered submarines
The next development for the Series will be powered submarines that are crewed by two divers (pilot and navigator) who will navigate along a Race-Tube (3-dimensional race course) to complete a longer and more challenging race than the human-powered models. Powered Racing submarines have been dubbed SubRacers, The SubRacers will be powered, using batteries (or other sorts of energy i.e. hydrogen cells) and are envisaged to retain a human-powered element to preserve the physical connection between humans and the ocean. This will ensure that both and in this way test both the physical and mental qualities of the crew are tested.
Fans of the Sub-Racing Series will experience the race through multiple forms of media, including live, Augmented Reality and recorded footage.
One of the Sub-Racing Series"s biggest challenges is bringing a subsea racing series to an audience in real time. Through a combination of the latest advances in subsea communication and Augmented Reality, audiences will be the ability to witness all the drama and excitement live.
Where to watch the races
The Submarine Racing Series are planning to hold races in around the globe in iconic coastline locations where the pilots and racers compete both against each other and conditions in turbulent nearshore aquaspheres.
Each racing location will represent a subsea arena which have pre-defined markers that the crew will need to pass through, but will be in the 3-dimensional (3D) subsea space, so will defined as a Race-Tube rather than a 2D car racetrack.
The proof of concept events have so far taken place in Playa de Arinaga, a small coastal town in Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. The Canaries are known as the ‘Latitude of Life’ as this group of seven islands in the Eastern Atlantic benefit from Spring-like temperatures all year round, and the waters, which are warmed by the Gulf Stream, rarely drop below 19ºC. This site is close to a local marine reserve where species such as angel shark, butterfly ray, barracudas, seahorses and large shoals of parrotfish, wrasse and damselfish can be seen.
Playa de Arinaga has the right depth and sea-floor profile to safely organise the races in water with great visibility.
When is the next race?
The first Proof of Concept was successfully completed in Sept 2023. The first Invitational event will start on 17 Sept 2024, in Playa de Arinaga, Gran Canaria. Over the next few years we will be adding more teams, competitions and locations to the schedule.
Technology
Technology used in racing submaries for the purposes of the Sub-Racing Series, the nearshore zone is the subsea space subject to any type of coastal wave action, from gentle to storm waves. This is the subsea zone where the energy of the ocean collides with the land. These spaces give the teams challenges to handle currents, ground-swell, tidal conditions rapid pressure changes with depth and obstacles to avoid as they compete in the subsea arena.
The designers of the racing submarines need to understand many of these technologies to build a class-winning of the submarines:
- Waterproofing of electrical and power systems underwater
- Fitness level and pilot ergonomics for Human Powered Submarines
- Backup and safety features and systems whether Electric or Human Powered
- Controlling Buoyancy and stability underwater especially for 3 dimensional races
- Steering and navigation
- Underwater diving skills and life-support systems
- Support, safety and Emergency Systems
Racing Disciplines:
In total we envisage 4 racing disciplines. Our initial focus is "The Human in the Machine" and this represents the core of the SubRacing series. In time we plan to expand the to include drone racing and with all the data and real-world experience we gather, further expand into realistic simulation-racing and further include fantasy gaming on the other end of the racing spectrum.
How SRS will broadcast a subsea race:
Providing a high quality audio-visual link from the subsea environment to an audience around the world is extremely challenging. Further challenges exist in that we aim to follow the SubRacing and be able to broadcast from the Pilot and Navigators perspective, in real-time. But why is this so challenging? Essentially all of the technologies that exist on land i.e. WiFi, Bluetooth for high-band width communication, would completely fail underwater, due to the density of water being 800 times that of air. The good news is that there are some light and laser technologies (i.e. Bluecomm) that have been proven to work underwater, but these will need to be tested and modified for a highspeed racing series. We currently envisage a suite of technologies, some hardwired, some with buoyed transmitters and others using laser, light, sound or other innovations to bring the SubRacing Series to a land-living audience.
Engineering and coastal ocean monitoring (How to deploy in this environment)
To understand the bottom currents Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) can be moored to the seafloor looking towards the surface. These devices monitor different “bins” (stratified layers within the water column) and asses the speed of particulate matter moving through said bins. Deployed as a single monitoring station or as monitoring arrays they can deliver both spatial and temporal current data either post-processed or in real-time which can aid the teams in hydrodynamic design choices and deliver real world data to racing avatars.
Ocean current modelling to best support the SubRacing Series, a coastal ocean monitoring system equipped with a network of smart buoys and sensors, possibly including underwater drones in the future could be deployed. These devices would provide real-time data on water conditions, and environmental factors, ensuring both the safety and competitiveness of the submarine races while contributing to broader oceanic research.
Our timeline
2023
Proof of Concept 1 was completed in Arinaga Bay, Gran Canaria, at the end of September 2023.
2024
Proof of Concept 2 is the first invitational, happening on 17 September 2024, in Arinaga Bay, Gran Canaria.
2025
Pilot Series, exact location, and date TBC.
2026-30
10 Races to exist per 12-month session.
Environment
The SubRacing Series (SRS) deeply resonates with the overarching Vision and Mission of the UNESCO Ocean Decade. Embodying the mantra, "the science we need for the ocean we want," SRS merges cutting-edge technology and ocean science to create a sport that enlightens, entertains, and educates. In doing so, we provide transformative ocean science solutions aimed at sustainable development, essentially acting as a conduit that links people with the ocean, in alignment with the Decade's Mission. The SubRacing Series (SRS) aligns harmoniously with Ocean Decade Challenges 10, 9, and 8, transforming the way we interact with and understand our oceans.
Challenge 10
SRS goes beyond traditional sports to connect people's hearts and minds to the ocean's vital role in human wellbeing, culture, and sustainable development. Through an immersive, high-tech racing experience set in iconic marine locations, we overcome barriers of public apathy and ignorance, thereby changing humanity's relationship with the ocean.
Challenge 9
Our innovative use of submarine technologies serves as a platform for capacity development and knowledge dissemination. The tech-centric nature of our racing series provides equitable access to cutting-edge information, skills, and tools across various aspects of ocean science. It's not just about the race; it's about empowering all stakeholders, from professional to amateur enthusiasts, to gain a better understanding of marine technologies and ecological imperatives.
Challenge 8
SRS contributes to the creation of a comprehensive digital representation of the ocean. Our subsea arenas, navigated in real-time using augmented reality (AR), offer unprecedented data sets for a dynamic ocean map. These data can be integrated into broader initiatives, offering free and open access to visualize past, current, and future ocean conditions.
In conclusion, by linking sports entertainment with scientific inquiry and public education, the SubRacing Series encapsulates a multi-stakeholder approach to preserving and understanding our most valuable resource – the ocean.
