On May 30, Newport News Shipbuilding’s Apprentice School student section of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) held its 16th boat design competition at Lions Bridge in The Mariners’ Museum and Park.

This year’s competition theme was “Jaws,” a scenario requiring teams to design a fishing boat that could hold containers representing chum buckets, tracking barrels and explosive canisters.

A total of 24 high school teams registered for the competition, submitting designs for consideration. Four finalists were selected to have X32 apprentices fabricate those designs. Two of the finalists, Alexandria City High School and West Springfield High School, attended the event in-person.

West Springfield and their boat, The Bad Bruce, took home the coveted Rock Trophy.

“It’s always a great day to see the high school students, their parents and sponsors, Noland Trail spectators, and our club excited for race day,” said Engineering Manager Jarrod Griffith (E11), who served as the competition adviser. “The competition is praised for its uniqueness and its ability to corroborate real-world problems incorporated with the school curriculum. It’s a lot of work and project management to hold the culminating race day, but all those involved consistently display ‘Always Good Boats.’”

For more information, visit https://communities.sname.org/designcompetition.