The Microtransat Challenge


2016 Transatlantic Race

The 2016 Microtransat is running for the rest of the year and until rules for 2017 are finalised. Teams may depart at any time during this period, for a list of competing teams see the registered teams page.

Attempts so far this year

So far three teams have begun the challenge. On July 5th Epsom College from Surrey in England launched their boat That'll Do from the middle of the English Channel off the Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Pursuer. On July 7th the United States Naval Academy launched their boats ABoat Time and Trawler Bait from Cape Cod on July 7th. ABoat time has competed for the last two years and Trawler Bait is a new boat of the same design. On September 12th Andy Osusky launched his boat OpenTransat from Newfoundland. On October 16th Craig Gorton launch his boat GortoBot v2 from Massachusetts.

You can see the route taken by all the boats on the Tracking page.

Changes to the rules for 2016

A full highlighted list of rule changes can found on our wiki

Start and Finish Lines

There are two possible routes that a boat may take, either West to East from North America to Europe or East to West from Europe to North America.

The East to West route start line is along the line between 51 degrees north, 16 degrees west and 45 degrees north, 8 degrees west. The finish line is along 60 degrees West between 10 and 25 degrees North. Click here to see a map of this route.

The West to East route start line is along the line of line of longitude at 47 degrees and 30 minutes West, between 41 and 48 degrees North. The finish line is along the line of 11 degrees West between 45 and 55 degrees North. Click here to see a map of this route.

Competing teams may depart from anywhere they choose, providing they cross the start line. Additionally the 40 nautical miles proceeding the start line must be sailed autonomously. Teams must specify a target point on the finish line and must reach within 25km of this point in order to complete the competition.

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