Operating a vehicle underwater by remote is becoming somewhat of a speciality at Friday Harbor Middle School.

For a second year in a row, the middle school ROV Club competed at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Pacific Northwest Regional.

This year, they won.

Led for the second consecutive year by captain Matthew McElrath, age 14, the middle school’s team Oceanus Explorations guided its ROV, “Orange Crush,” through a series of simulated tasks, scientific maneuvers and subsea pipeline inspections and repairs, with near-flawless precision, scoring 239.6 out of a possible 270 points, to win the regional’s Scout Class at the May 9 competition in Seattle, and leaving even its nearest competitor, with 212 points, high and dry.

In the competition, each team has five minutes to set up, 15 minutes to complete its maneuvers and then five minutes to break down equipment and depart the demonstration area.

Each member of the three-person team has specific assignments in operating the ROV. In addition to McElrath, the club’s elder statesman, Oceanus Explorations consists of 13-year-old Levi Doenges, Orange Crush pilot, and Justin Ha, also 13, who shares engineer and hydraulics specialist duties with McElrath.

The theme of the 2015 MATE competition, “Science and Industry in the Arctic,” highlighted the use of ROVs in extreme environments and the role they play in polar science and the offshore petroleum industry.