About the Microtransat
The Microtransat Challenge is a transatlantic race of fully autonomous sailing boats. The race aims to stimulate the development of autonomous sailing boats through friendly competition. The first transatlantic race was due to start in September 2009 from County Kerry, Ireland however all but one team have now said they aren't ready and the race has been cancelled, details of the 2010 competition will be released soon.
Four smaller competitions have already taken place, these allowed contestants to exchange ideas and test their boats in less harsh environments.
The first Microtransat competition took place on a lake near Toulouse, France in June 2006. Three teams (Aberystwyth University, ENSICA/IUT de Nantes and INNOC) took part.
The second competition took place on the Irish Sea off the coast of Aberystwyth, Wales, UK in September 2007. This was intended to give competitors a sample of what sailing at sea was like. Four teams (Aberystwyth University, ENSICA/IUT de Nantes, INNOC and Queens University) took part.
A spin off competition, the World Robotic Sailing Championships was organised by INNOC (The Austrian Association for Innovative Computer Science) and took place in Austria in May 2008.
The 2nd World Robotic Sailing Championships were organised by the University of Porto and took place in Matosinhos, Portugal in July 2009.
The 3rd World Robotic Sailing Championships are being combined with the Sailbot compeititon. This even is being hosted by Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada will take place in June 2010.
