SailBot 2024
The 16th annual International Robotic Sailing Regatta (IRSR) was held the week of June 2nd to 7th, 2024 at Camp Bauercrest on Lake Attitash in Amesbury, Massachusetts. It was sponsored by the Newburyport Education Foundation.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) won the 2024 event.
Stay turned for information about the 2025 event! Contact Ken Stafford at stafford@wpi.edu with any questions.
The SailBot competition is open to students from secondary schools, undergraduate, and graduate programs, individuals, and companies, however at least 50% of the team must be secondary or undergraduate students. (Faculty do not count as team members.).
The challenge events are designed to span the range from easy to difficult so new or small teams can score points their first year and can improve their boat in succeeding years. For example, the Fleet Races require all boats to use remote control (to prove they have a robust remote control override for safety reasons), which is an achievable goal for a new team, while the Navigation event must be autonomous and requires precision control, so might be a goal for the second year. Many of the events can be done in remote control by taking a points penalty. With the exception of the Fleet Races, a boat/team only competes against its own potential rather than against the other teams. Each event requires different design characteristics of the boat and systems so a team can build on their progress from year to year. For instance, as it is often difficult to determine where the wind is coming from on a boat 200 meters away, a good first-year autonomy goal is computer-controlled sail trim.
Historically the competition has had at least two vessel classes, although no one has entered the Open Class in the last few years:
- SailBot Class (boats less than 2 meters overall length that do not exceed the maximum dimensions of the SailBot Class Rules). At least 50% of the team must be secondary or undergraduate students. (Faculty do not count as team members.)
- Open Class (maximum 4 meters in overall length).
Prizes, including the SailBot Class Perpetual Trophy, are awarded to each team that competes, plus, in 2017 there was a prize for the top MaxiMOOP (three entered in 2017)! (For more information on the MaxiMOOP design, go here!)
The winning team is traditionally responsible for hosting the next Sailbot competition the following spring.
Please send any questions or suggestions to sailbotcompetition@gmail.com. Feel free to contact us if you are hoping to put together a team and need help!