America's Cup for Robots

Ahoy Mateys! 'f yer find yerself on one of 'em Caribbean cruise in 2008, don't yer be surprised to see 'em sailboats whooshing by sans Tag Hauer-trotting, Porsche-driving skippers and pirat..err crew. Some English and French academics have created the Microtransat Challenge, a Grand Challenge of the open seas. In the competition next year, boats less than 4m in length will set sail off the coast of France and navigate across the Atlantic to the Caribbean autonomously, propelled only by wind. In preparation for the Microtransat Challenge next year, teams gathered yesterday in Wales to test their boats in a smaller, more controlled setting. University of Wales, Aberystwyth is one of the organizers of the Microtransat Challenge.