Twenty-five international Ph.D. students and young researchers of the international offshore wind industry gathered last week at the floating wind turbine challenge, organized by the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) and International Network on Offshore Renewable Energy (INORE). At this event, seven teams had to develop a floating structure for a 1/100 scale wind turbine in only 24 hours. All participants were provided the same choice of basic materials (PVC pipes, foam blocks, weights, tapes) and had to build the models by themselves. The concept with the lowest construction weight in combination with the lowest acceleration at the nacelle would be declared the winner.