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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.
This is a 2 meter vessel, not a large racing hull built to be fast (and nothing but fast). Using the page you link to, the most useful comparison would be the single-handed records, and the one from 1987 which was about 11.5 days was in a 26 meter hull! And this is the smallest vessel on the list. You are probably not going to get a 2 meter vessel to tear along at an average speed of 7.5 m/sec which would be needed for that 11.5 day crossing.
Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
Also note that the world speed record for a radio-controlled sailing vessel (which was also 2 meters long) is 157.65 km in 23 hours 42 min in the milder waters of the Mediterranean. At that world record speed in a small RC boat this challenge would have taken 32 days.
So 79 days in a boat not controlled by a human, and not limited to a 24 hour period, in the open waters of the Atlantic is not so shabby. The speed made good over that whole journey is 40% of that 24 hour record.
Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
You're a landlubber, I take it?
The Atlantic waves are quite an obstacle for a 2m boat.
Even drifting tar (and garbage) is a problem when you're that small.
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.
There really aren't a lot of obstacles to deal with. Just point the boat and go.
I imagine that's true, if you have an effectively unlimited energy, but the terms of this contest is to build a vehicle less than eight feet long that can cross the Atlantic.
That's not a lot of room to stuff with batteries or diesel fuel, or to cover with solar panels. And that's the whole point. If you could make the vehicle a hundred feet long, this challenge would be expensive, but easy. By making the boat tiny, you make the challenge affordable, but tough.
The race has two divisions, sail powered and unlimited, but it's hard to see what they had in mind for propulsion by having an unlimited division. Possibly some seawater-replenished fuel cell.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Sure the Atlantic can be a tough place, but 79 days?
The Mayflower took 66 days to cross, and was much bigger.
I've found a FLAT EARTH DENIER!
I bet you vaccinate your kids and don't believe in lizard people either.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
For the first time an autonomous sailing robot...
From the linked article:
https://www.apnews.com/f6d0e2a...
The Sailbuoy competed in the “unmanned” class, which allows operators to change its course along the way. There’s a separate “autonomous” class that prohibits any such communication.
Site with pictures of the vessels.