The IMarEST’s European International Submarine Races 2018, held 3 -13 July at QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin in Gosport, UK, have concluded with the Canadian École de Technologie Supérieure team taking the winning trophy with their submarine, Omer 11.

The overall winner of the eISR must combine excellence in engineering design, manufacture, performance, reliability and reporting and, in submarine racing, the name Omer is synonymous with all of these. The students from Montreal brought innovation to a new level this year, combining several iterations of racing success into a single world record-breaking submersible speedster.

The IMarEST has announced that the fourth European International Submarine Races will take place over a fortnight from 2-13 July 2018, with QinetiQ, a defence technology company, as the principal sponsor for the event.

The races are a unique sporting and engineering challenge which involve teams from universities across the world designing, building and racing human-powered submarines around a slalom course at QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin, one of the world’s largest indoor freshwater tanks in Gosport, UK.

The IMarEST’s European International Submarine Races 2016, held 6th-15th July at QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin in Gosport UK, has concluded with the University of Auckland team’s Taniwha II submarine taking the winning trophy. The team proved that the combination of innovation and attention to detail makes all the difference. Their biomimetic craft was driven to impressive, near record-breaking speeds (4.7 knots) by a robust biomimetic propulsion system and a novel fish-inspired hydrodynamically efficient tail which replaced the rudder usually found on submarines.

Babcock International Group, a worldwide engineering support services company with a particular presence in the marine sector, and BMT Group, a leading engineering, science and technology consultancy join the principal sponsors, QinetiQ and DE&S, as sponsors of the IMarEST’s third biennial human-powered submarine races (eISR 2016). The races, held from 6-15th July 2016 at QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin in Gosport, England, will challenge 12 university teams from across the world to design, build and race human-powered submarines.

QinetiQ, a defence technology company and Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) a bespoke trading entity that is part of the Ministry of Defence, are once again principal sponsors of the IMarEST’s biennial European International Submarine Races (eISR 2016). The two principal sponsors were joined last week by additional sponsors, Babcock International Group and BMT Defence Service.

The races, held from 6-15th July 2016 at QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin in Gosport, England, will challenge 12 university teams from across the world to design, build and race human-powered submarines.

Texas A&M “Aggies” are the first team to officially qualify to compete in the European International Submarine Race (eISR) 2016, which will be held from the 6th to the 15th of July 2016 in Gosport, England.

The team competed in the inaugural race in 2012 but were unable to complete the course. They will return with the same submarine, and a much improved set of controls.

The race involves teams of university students building and racing human-powered submarines around a demanding slalom course in what is a unique sporting and engineering challenge. The racecourse is hosted in QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin, the biggest covered water space in Europe.

The week-long European International Submarine Races organised by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST) and hosted by QinetiQ in its Ocean Basin at Haslar , UK - Europe’s biggest covered water freshwater space - resulted in Omer 9 from École de Technologies Supérieure Montreal in Canada winning this event for the second time.  Ten teams from universities on three continents took part in the biennial races.

Archimède from École Polytechnique de Montreal, also from Canada, was the runner up.  Both teams received trophies of glass engraved by former Flag Officer Submarines Admiral Frank Grenier. Omer 9 also won the Agility/Endurance award for completing two laps of the course with the fastest time and no faults, and the greatest speed between timed gates reaching 7.1 knots.

The 2nd European International Submarine Races are now under-way at QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin at Haslar, Gosport – Europe’s biggest covered water freshwater space. Nearly 100 students from ten universities around the world are jockeying for position in this unique engineering and sporting event, which sees pilots in SCUBA gear pedalling furiously in their totally submerged submarine around the huge tank, which is the size of an international soccer pitch.

With just over a week to go before the 2nd European International Submarine Races are held in Europe’s biggest covered water freshwater space, the countdown has begun in earnest.


Ten teams of university students from six countries – Canada, Germany, New Zealand, The Netherlands, UK and USA, and from three continents will be competing in the week long engineering and sporting challenge at QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin which, at 122m x 61m is as wide and long as an international soccer pitch, and is 5.5m deep. The submarines – be they designed and built (by the students) for one person or a two-man team are powered by the pilot, or pilots, pedalling them fully submerged around a challenging slalom course and wearing SCUBA gear.


With over a hundred young people from eleven universities from six countries on three continents taking part in the European International Submarine Races (QinetiQ’s Ocean Basin at Gosport, UK, 7 -11 July), the organisers are celebrating National Women in Engineering Day 2014 (23 June) by highlighting the strength of involvement of women in the teams.

“Twenty percent of the participants are women, and we celebrate the complete equality of roles in the teams,” says Race Director, Prof William Megill, FIMarEST. “Some will have taken a very active role in the design of their submarine, which will be racing against the clock fully submerged with the pilot in SCUBA gear pedalling round a gruelling slalom course, some will act as the pilot, others will play pivotal roles in the event. Indeed, three of the teams (Delft, Rhine-Waal and Plymouth) are led by women engineers, and the University of Washington team is led underwater by a woman divemaster.