Design and Development of Waterbikes at the Faculty of Engineering - University of Rijeka Available to Purchase

The undergraduate university study program for attaining the bachelor's degree together with the graduate university study program for attaining the master's degree of Naval Architecture at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Rijeka can be defined as a classical naval architecture program. The completion of these programs enables students upon graduation to find jobs in companies that design and construct various ship types, develop and manage technological processes and build and maintain ships and off-shore units, i.e. to get employed in a very wide field of shipbuilding and ocean engineering industries. In the process of professional training, besides a theoretical knowledge, practical experience is certainly essential for the students. In order to gain their first experience, students have the opportunity to join the student project "RITEH Waterbike Team – RWT". The basic task is the design and construction of a waterbike to participate in international waterbike regattas in Europe. By taking part in this project, students gain their first experience in the profession because they pass all stages of the waterbike development, which includes the conceptual design, the construction of parts and waterbike assembly, testing and sea trials and finally the participation in the regattas where all the possible drawbacks cannot be completely avoided. Besides these noticeable activities, there is a whole group of other activities which includes definition of the budget, marketing, contacting sponsors, project applications for funds, the purchasing and manufacturing of parts and organizing the multitude of tasks. This paper will discuss the development of several waterbikes since 1998 when the RWT was founded till the present. A case study of the present waterbike and a proposed new and improved design will be presented and an insight into design decisions will be explained. The main goal is to continually improve waterbike designs in order to maintain as well as to increase competitiveness in the waterbike regattas.