The Microtransat Challenge



Rules

Safety Rules:

  1. Safety should take priority over winning.
  2. Competitors may not attempt to inhibit other competitors by intentionally colliding with or obstructing their boat or by interfering with radio and electronic equipment.
  3. All radio equipment must comply with appropriate International regulations.
  4. Each boat must be equipped with a navigation light which is turned one during the hours of darkness. It should be visible from all directions and from a distance of at least 2 miles. The light maybe a single white light or a tri-colour red/white/green light.
  5. Boats must take appropriate precautions to avoid collisions. This might include the use of radar reflectors, brightly coloured panels, warning labels/flags or AIS transponders and avoiding known shipping lanes. Each team must decide the exact precautions they wish to take.
  6. The boat owner is liable for any damage caused to their boat or by their boat. The organisers take no responsibility for any damage caused.
  7. Boats must remain outside any defined exclusion zones.
  8. The organisers will only arrange permission for the boats to operate in the waters of the country of departure. If permission is not obtainable then the launch will take place in international waters. Competitors are responsible for arranging permission for their boat to enter the waters of their destination country and other countries along the way. Competitors are recommended to remain in international waters where possible.

Tracking of boats and transmission on data:

  1. Each competitor will be required to provide their boat's position to the organisers via a web or email interface every 24 hours. Competitors are free to decide how this information is obtained and transmitted. A map showing each boat's position will be provided on this website. Any boat which fails to transmit for more than 10 consecutive days will be disqualified.
  2. In adition to transmiting position data, each boat should keep a record onboard of its position at least once every 24 hours. A copy of this must be presented to the jury upon completion.
  3. Competitors may transmit status information such as battery state from their boats.
  4. During the race competitors may not transmit any information to their boats, including new waypoints, weather information or software updates. Any competitor which does will be disqualified. However if a competitor wishes to implement such features for use in an emergency or after the race, then they may do so on the understanding that their use during the race will result in disqualification. The jury may request to examine satellite phone bills, log files or computer code if they suspect data has been sent to the boat.

Criteria for entry:

Every boat entered must fulfill the following criteria:

  1. No source of propulsion other than wind.
  2. The sailboat must be fully autonomous, no operator control is allowed.
  3. The sailboat must be energetically autonomous, carrying on board any required batteries and electricity generating equipment.
  4. The length of the boat must not exceed four metres.

The competition:

  1. The aim of the competition is simple, to sail an autonomous sailing boat between Europe and the Caribbean in the fastest possible time.
  2. The competition will start over the 7 days. Competitors may launch at any time during this time.
  3. The start point is planned for Ballydavid, County Kerry, Ireland, 52.22 degrees North, 10.4 degrees West.
  4. The finishing line is the line of longitude between 10.00 degrees North, 60.00 degrees West and 25.00 degrees North 60.00 degrees West. Before departing, each team must choose a target area of 50km diameter along this line. A boat will only be considered to have finished the race when it reaches this 50km target, even if it has already crossed the finish line.

Judging Criteria:

  1. How quickly the boat crosses the Atlantic between the designated start point and the team's target end point.
  2. A handicap will be calculated by the jury based on the boat's hull length using the following formula: Time Corrected = Time * square root(4 meters)/square root(length in meters)
  3. In the event of no boat reaching the finishing line, no winner will be declared.
  4. The result will be given by the jury within one week of the last boat arriving or giving up. During this time each competitor will submit a complete log of positions (minimum of 1 every 24 hours) along with any contest or comment to the jury and to all other teams.

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