17th International Robotic Sailing Regatta (9-13 June 2025, Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester MA, USA)
The 17th annual International Robotic Sailing Regatta (IRSR) was held the week of 8-13 June 2025 at Regatta Point Community Sailing on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester Massachusetts. It was be sponsored by the 2024 winners: Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
The week provided better than expected sailing conditions with sailable breezes (4-11 kts) most times Mon-Wed with day temps of 65-85F. A light rainfall on Tuesday with no wind led to an hour extension for that day’s events. Thursday proved more challenging with 5-12 kts sustained but with occasional 20 kt gusts. All events proceeded as scheduled with the exception of the Search event when a passing boat with prominent orange life jackets spoofed Cornell’s boat and forced a restart.
Electrical gremlins plagued several of the teams but eventually all boats made it to the water. While not the largest fleet to assemble for SailBot, it was one of the most varied fleets in recent history. Displacements varied from 144 lbs to 30 lbs; lengths from 1.4m to 2m; sail rigs from sloop, to cat, to gaff, to rigid wings; underbodies with lead, iron, rock, or no ballast; monohulls to trimarans; keel depths from 1.5m to 0.2m. Several teams’ boats underwent significant modifications as the week proceeded after recovering from breakages and rescues.
In the end, the Cornell team showed its mettle and excellent preparation by placing first in 5 of the 6 events it entered. Congratulations to the team and their boat “RedForty”!
Looks like IRSR 18 will be in New York! For early info on the 2026 event contact CUSAIL@cornell.edu.
