Building on the success of previous SailBot Regattas, SailBot 2011, the North American competition for robotic sailboats was held at the United States Naval Academy from June 13-16, 2011 in Annapolis, MD.

The winning entry goes to the US Naval Academy, with second place to UBC’s Thunderbird, and third place to RMC. See a youtube video of the UBC’s entry boat below:

SailBot is an international competition for autonomously controlled sailboats. Aimed primarily at undergraduate student teams, the goal is to give engineering students a practical application of the topics they have learned, while also providing a fun way to learn project management in a multidisciplinary environment. A successful SailBot balances the needs of naval architecture, mechanical engineering, systems and electrical engineering, as well as project management.

The competition was open to the 2 meter SailBot Class and an Open Class (boats up to 4 meters in length). It consisted of five events to test various aspects of the design, construction and control logic. There is no entry fee to participate.

The 2011 participants included student teams from the United States Naval Academy (host school), Memorial University of Newfoundland, Queen’s University, and the University of British Columbia.