Microtransat Challenge

This October sees the start of the Microtransit Challenge, where eight robot sailboats will set sail from Viana do Castelo, Portugal with an "imaginary" finish line that stretches" between St. Lucia and Martinique in the Carribean Ocean" (sic).

It's billed as "a three-month journey that will push the designers of these vessels to the limits of what robotics and artificial intelligence can presently accomplish", though it's clear that at least the writer of the report isn't a sailor, because this doesn't seem much of a challenge. Any sailing craft with the wheel lashed and the sails properly set will keep a constant heading and with a wind vane, autopilot and GPS it's practically a doddle outside of the odd hurricane. Besides, a line twenty miles across is a pretty big target even for a Transatlantic passage, so I suspect that there's more to this challenge than meets the eye.

Now if they could get one to pilot its way into the Port of London against heavy traffic even without an ocean passage, then I'd be impressed.