A team of boat designers is using high-performance IBM workstations and Lenovo notebook PCs to try to break the world water speed record.

Nigel Macknight is leading the Quicksilver Challenge Team to break the 29-year-old 317.6 mph record on Coniston Water in early 2009. Donald Campbell was the last Englishman to try to break the record in 1967 and was killed in the attempt.

The technology, designed and installed by high-performance computing integrator OCF, will be used to ensure efficient craft design as engineers are distributed in locations across the UK.

Engineers will be able to view, study and adjust craft designs and 3D visualisations more efficiently using the notebooks, which have been designed specifically for remote and mobile workers using multimedia applications.

A built-in motion sensor continuously monitors the movement of the notebook PC, and if a sudden movement is detected, it temporarily stops the hard drive to protect it from a potential crash.

Office-based engineers completing similar design and visualisation tasks working in the Quicksilver office or remote locations use high-performance workstations with 2.4GHz AMD processor, 8GB RAM and 146GB Disk.

‘The team is made up of aerodynamic, hydrodynamic, structural, propulsion and electronics engineers spread across the UK from Bournemouth to Bristol and the Midlands, and as far north as Manchester,’ said Macknight.

‘Using the fleet of high-performance workstations and notebook PCs allows our team to work from any location, view, study and adjust designs and 3D visualisations more quickly and efficiently.’