Robot Boat Sails Into History By Finishing Atlantic Crossing (apnews.com)

An anonymous reader writes: For the first time an autonomous sailing robot has completed the Microtransat Challenge by crossing the Atlantic from Newfoundland, Canada to Ireland. The Microtransat has been running since 2010 and has seen 23 previous entries all fail to make it across. The successful boat, SB Met was built by the Norwegian company Offshore Sensing AS and is only 2 metres (6.5 ft) long. It completed the crossing on August 26th, 79 days and 5000 km (3100 miles) of sailing after departing Newfoundland on June 7th. Further reading: A Fleet of Sailing Robots Sets Out To Quantify the Oceans.

Comments

Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult

[Anonymous Coward]

It is not that easy. If you just start sailing in a straight line, you will end up many kilometers above the sea, which is no good for a sail boat. If instead you point the boat straight at the finish line, you'll be under water for most of the trip. Again, not ideal for a sail boat. The earth is not flat, you know.

Re:Hard to understand why this would be difficult

[Oswald McWeany]

I've found a FLAT EARTH DENIER!

I bet you vaccinate your kids and don't believe in lizard people either.