The Race

This project, despite my own desires and dreams and in spite of my machinations, is not simply a chance to tie the rudder to half starboard and watch a model yacht sail in a slow spiral towards an A, but is in fact the first step (along with other projects) towards an entry in the MICROTRANSAT. First of all, the ALL CAPS are the organisations own. Second, it’s the not-extremely-sexy-but-best-they-could-do-since-all-the-cool-domain-names-were-taken abbreviation for the Micro (-sized sailboat, maybe?) Trans-Atlantic Race.

And it’s for autonomous sailboats only.

I know what you’re thinking: Let’s pirate me some of these boats mid-voyage and sell them on ebay. Well, good luck, the Atlantics awfully big, and the yachts won’t be.

So, back to the race, and away from my post-pubescent ramblings.

The MICROTRANSAT’s goal is to stimulate research in autonomous sailing and other associated areas by offering an award to the first team to successfully build an autonomous yacht that can traverse the Atlantic ocean. The trans-atlantic race is to be held late in 2009, and at this point in time, there are five serious competitors.

The strict rules of the competition are available on their own page (Click “The Rules” above), but here I will boil down those regulations to what they essentially mean to the project. As my project is not an entry to this race but a precursor to one, it is not neccessary that I fulfill these criteria, unless my own project specification demands it.

  1. The boat must be under four meters in length.
  2. The boat must be autonomous in both navigation, processing and energy needs.
  3. The boat must be able to communicate with the shore and upload it’s position no less than once every 24 hours.
  4. The boat must be wind-powered.

Links:

<The MICROTRANSAT homepage: http://www.microtransat.org>

<The Rules page at MICROTRANSAT.ORG: http://www.microtransat.org/rules.php?lang=en>

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