Students of the SimLE Technical Club of Gdańsk University of Technology are working on the creation of a sailing boat, which is to operate fully autonomously. In autumn, the first fully autonomous cruise of their yacht on the Puck Bay is planned.

One of the potential goals of the “Seafarer” project is to take part in the Microtransat Challenge, where an independent boat should cross the Atlantic Ocean. No one in the world has succeeded so far. The task is difficult to implement, because the boat can have a maximum of 2.4 m in length, it must be fully independent, there is no possibility of remote control, and must be moved only by the wind.

Until now, the students managed to create a test boat hull (about 1.5 m long) for testing electronics and control algorithms. The boat already has a sail, rigging and also the electronics needed for control. The design has successfully passed the first tests on the water.