The Competition
by Andy Green
When we start running BLOODHOUND, I will have 2 helmets available – on the basis that we should always have a spare for anything important! Of course the helmets don’t have to be painted the same, and with 2 different designs, this gives us a great chance for a competition. Since BLOODHOUND is all about getting young people involved in every aspect of our Engineering Adventure, we could have UK schools designing a UK helmet and South African schools designing one with a South African theme.
The rules for the design were very simple. The colours have to be compatible with the BLOODHOUND Blue and BLOODHOUND Orange, the helmet needs to be identifiable as BLOODHOUND and it needs to identify me as the driver. There were a couple of other things that I didn’t include, as I wanted to see what they could work out for themselves. I was looking for bold, vibrant shapes, and 2 distinct national designs of some sort, one UK-themed and one South African. This was where the entrants could really show some flair.
The competition attracted 1000 entries, about half from the Northern Cape in South Africa and half from UK schools. There was a huge range of colours and designs, which were great fun to judge, but it was really difficult to make a final choice. I wish I had at least 5 helmets, as there were so many designs that I wanted to use.
UK Winners
The UK entries were split into 2 age groups, 4-11 years old and 11-16 years old. Each group had a winner and a runner up, and each of them had some really clever ideas that I liked.
Winner 4-11 years old
The winner in the 4-11 group was 11 year old Sam James from Winterbourne Earls School. I liked the bold, simple colours and the clever highlight of the visor aperture with the flames.
Runner Up 4-11 years old
Runner up in 4-11 was 10 year old Lauren Swann of Stoke Poges school. Another bold, clean and simple design with a clear theme, it’s my kind of design.
Winner 11-16 years old
Winner of the 11-16 group was 13 year old Luke Hitchens of Tewkesbury School. I loved the simple design with the elegant design on the back – I’m going to see if we can include this bit in the final design in some way.
Runner Up 11-16 years old
Runner up for 11-16 was Cerys Rogers, also from Tewkesbury (obviously a creative place!). The blend of UK and SA flags across the chin bar was the most effective I had seen in all 1000 entries.
South African Winners
There were so many great entries from the Northern Cape that we chose from 3 categories, 4-11, 11-16 and over 16.
Winner 4-11 years old
The winner in the 4-11 group was 11 year old Lindiwe Maganelo from Molehabangwe Primary School. A clean and simple design which would work well in BLOODHOUND colours.
Winner 11-16 years old
Winner of the 11-16 year old group was Enrique van der Merwe from Postmasburg Primary School. A simple and effective joining of UK and SA flags in BLOODHOUND colours – this is how I would do it.
Runner Up 11-16 years old
The Runner-up for 11-16 was 15 year old Mogomotsi Mandela from Adamantia High School. While the colours were unusual, the design was exciting and very South African, influenced by a Kimberley diamond mine theme.
Winner 16+ years old
The 16+ Winner was 17 year old Dirk Coetzee. I loved this design, which was bold and exciting, with a very clear South African theme, plus the Gemsbok and the big sunrise adding a Northern Cape element. Perfect.
Runner Up 16+ years old
Runner Up in the 16+ group was 16 year old Yolanda Mtombeni from Kimberley Girls High School. Another bold and vibrant design, with a real South African flavour. Great work.
The Overall Winners
A tough choice! However, there were a couple that really worked for me, with strong country themes and great colours.
The Overall UK Winner
Of course, you would expect that the UK winner would be one of the older group, but you would be wrong. The UK overall winning design was 11 year old Sam James, as I just loved that simple and effective design. Well done Sam!
The Overall South African Winner
For South Africa, the overall winner was 17 year old Dirk Coetzee. Superbly finished and proudly South African!
These designs are now with our expert helmet designer/painter Jason, from JLF Designs. I’m going to work with Jason to turn the above designs into 2 exciting helmets for me to use in BLOODHOUND. I’ll have to use them in strict rotation of course – no UK or SA favouritism!
Thanks to all the entrants and all the schools that took part. It was a great competition and we’ve got 2 terrific winning designs – so thank you all.
