UBC Students Design/Build Robotic Sailboat

UBC Sailbot

 

Every year more than 60 students from the University of British Columbia come together to design and build a fully autonomous sailboat, a Sailbot.

Their motivation is neither class credit nor financial gain; they are simply passionate about complex programming, advanced electronics and sailing.

After consecutively winning the International Robotic Sailing Regatta for the past three years, the team believes they are ready to take on the Atlantic Ocean with their newest transatlantic robotic sailboat!

Packing an advanced electronics package, accurate sensors, and satellite communication systems into a carbon fibre hull will ensure that the vessel can survive what the Atlantic Ocean has to offer. In addition, the advanced sailing logic and course planning software can optimize voyage time while minimizing risk of damage from storms or shipping traffic.

http://ubcsailbot.org/

 

Video Gallery

Neptunus 650F Review

Neptunus 650F 400

By Andy Adams

Over the years Canadian Yachting has had the pleasure of doing several boat review articles on new Neptunus models and we are familiar with the qualities that Neptunus is famous for. They have all been exceptional yachts, but this is the one I would most want to own myself. It’s a personal choice and a matter of taste as to whether you would prefer to have a sedan express model or a flybridge but in my opinion, the flybridge layout offers some wonderful attributes.

We met with Neptunus Managing Director Jan Willem De Jong this past fall to take the new Neptunus 650F out in Lake Ontario. 

Read More

Destinations

The Other Virgin Islands

Sunset off St John

By Mark Stevens

I was first seduced by the United States Virgin Islands during a ferry ride from St. Thomas to Tortola to begin one of our earliest British Virgin Islands charters nearly twenty years ago.

A perfect sunset off St. John with St. Thomas views for backdrop.

Clearing Pillsbury Sound, surrounded by voluptuous emerald mountains as the ferry sliced through royal blue waters, I was struck by the unspoiled ambiance of St. John, the island gliding past our starboard beam and the irresistible charm of a village called Cruz Bay visible from our quarter stern.

Read More

Lifestyle