Race day ended up becoming an oxymoron for me as it was disappointing, but an improvement. Due to unknown reasons possibly including murphy's law and pure bad luck, the first attempt was a misfire and the second was a dud. At least 2 balloons were destroyed during the entire race. The balloon car appeared to have went slower, but due to a different perspective, it actually went faster than previous trial runs. At the least, it went over 5m but unfortunately went a short distance compared to other vehicles.

Testing has shown that the newest balloon car CAN travel a minimum of 5 metres. Some unsolved issues however, are speed and possibly weight. Otherwise the car is effective and certain previous problems have been rectified.

Another update on my car with the additions of wings from my old test car and the addition of elastics to support them. The "disk" from my last car (storm-bird) can still be attached (as a failsafe) and the design can accept a variety of nozzle types.

(AKA "Strinbag" due to elastics)

After some observation, it appears unlikely for my partner to contribute to car design due to lack of materials. Another attempt to increase performance via refurbishment underway.