Cedarville University Solar Boat Team Wins National Championship at Solar Splash 2026

Cedarville University's Solar Boat Team captured first place at Solar Splash 2026, earning the national championship with an overall score of 953 out of 1,000 points.The University of Southern Indiana finished second with 877 points, followed by the University of New Mexico (767 points) and Carnegie Mellon University (765 points). Cedarville teams have now won 15 World Solar Splash championships.

The championship performance follows another strong showing earlier this year at the Promoting Electric Propulsion (PEP) 26 competition in Norfolk, Virginia, where Cedarville finished second, just one point behind Princeton University.

The team's boat, Marvelous Grace, secured the title by finishing first in the Sprint competition, second in the Slalom and third in the Endurance race. Cedarville also received the competition's top Technical Report Award and placed second in the video presentation category. The name of the boat was in memory of Grace Maxwell, the Cedarville engineering student who died on January 29, 2025 in the American Airlines accident over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.