Retiring professor leaves lasting wake with Wooden Shoe Regatta

Shirley Fleischmann, professor of engineering, stood in a shallow towing tank with a bottle of champagne, ready to christen nearly 70 small wooden sailboats designed by students. Those boats would soon be put to the test in a race across a 9-foot course with "wind" from the side powered by six fans.

Fleischmann started the Wooden Shoe Regatta in 1990 as a lab to accompany a fluid mechanics class for juniors majoring in mechanical engineering. During those early years of what would become the Padnos College of Engineering, Fleischmann had a towing tank donated by S-2 (Tiara) Yachts of Holland delivered to the Eberhard Center for her class of seven students.

It's since become a tradition. "Students come into my class, asking, 'Are we going to do the boat race this year?'" Fleischmann said.

For the past 35 years, engineering students have created sailboats from a 2x4x10-inch block of basswood. The single-hull boats must be less than 21 inches long. The 1/12 scale models are then tested in the towing tank to determine the drag on their hulls over a range of speeds. Fleischmann said students use the same method naval architects use to scale these model tests to predict the drag on a full-sized boat. 

Using wind tunnel tests on model sails, students do the same for sails and then predict the performance of a full-scale boat. 

First for Midshipmen

She brought the idea of hosting a regatta to Grand Valley from her years of teaching at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. At that time, Fleischmann was home mulling over how to make the fluid mechanics class more exciting. It turned out the answer was in her hands as she was carving a sailboat for one of her children to use in a wading pool.

"I thought the midshipmen could make their own boats and test them. It's more meaningful for students if they have some skin in the game," she said.

They loved the regattas at the Naval Academy and they love them at Grand Valley. “Getting your boat to cross the course with wind coming from the side requires knowing how forces from wind and water shape boat performance. It is pure application of what we teach and, when successful, is worth celebrating," Fleischmann said.

Students spend about a month creating their boats before placing them in the towing tank at Keller Engineering Laboratories for the regatta. Points are awarded for style and speed, and the winners receive wooden shoes painted by Fleischmann. 

Before that first regatta in Annapolis, Fleischmann's mother shipped wooden shoes from Holland for the winners.

Students are not graded on the looks or performance of their sailboat. They do turn in a report following the regatta. Fleischmann has advised them to head to Lake Michigan and study how sailboats move in the channel at Holland State Park. 

“It is always amazing to see the diversity of working designs that come from a common starting point. That is why we christen them as symbols of the unique potential of each student to the profession of engineering,” Fleischmann said.

Engineering alumni were invited to the Aug. 4 regatta to help celebrate Fleischmann and her 37 years of teaching at Grand Valley, as she plans to retire at the end of the academic year.

She said she will likely volunteer to paint the shoe trophies next year when Sanjivan Manoharan, associate professor of mechanical engineering, becomes the regatta commodore. 

"The alumni coming and the community support have made this event the best kind of retirement party I could ask for," she said.