MAYFLOWER PILGRIMS VOYAGE - MAS's direction of travel is the reverse of the Scout and Voyager autonomous Atlantic attempts that took advantage of trade winds. The Mayflower will be heading into prevailing winds. If sail powered, she would need to tack. But powered by a diesel engine, there is no need for that. Energy from nature is used to power the onboard AI and satellite communications. Any surplus could aid propulsion.

We are following this exciting scientific adventure, hoping that the all alloy Mayflower makes it to Plymouth, Massachusetts without any technical hitches. 

We will be reporting the facts with our own observations. You can find out more about progress on the official websites (urls below).

Following a successful casting off, on the first day of the Atlantic autonomous attempt the MAS 400 ........ We look forward to reporting on progress during the second day at sea .....

TRANSATLANTIC EVENT CALENDAR 2021

The IBM Mayflower MAS 400 is an autonomous trimaran powered by a diesel engine, piloted by a solar powered artificially intelligent computer system developed by IBM called 'AI Captain.'

JOURNEY TIME

The original wooden 30-meter Mayflower took 66 days to carry the Pilgrims, Founding Fathers from the U.K. to what is now the U.S. The voyage would have involved a lot of tacking, because sailing ships cannot sail directly into the wind. But the new sail-less aluminium boat should take two to three weeks (14-21 days) depending on how strong the prevailing trade winds are.

LINKS & CONTACTS

https://mas400.com/

http://www.promare.org/projects/
https://newsroom.ibm.com/then-and-now