Mechanical failure sends UBC Sailbot off course, drifting south

A self-sailing boat from British Columbia has encountered a mechanical failure in theAtlantic Ocean, andthere isnothing her teamcan do about it.

Ada, a five-metre autonomous boatfrom the University of British Columbia, had been making great progress in her bid to cross the Atlanticuntil high winds damaged the rudder mechanismand left itunable to turn.

"She really wants to turn back onto course, but she's not able to," UBC Sailbot team member YoussefBasha said.

The team can only track the robotic boat online using a GPS that uploads her location every 20 minutes.On Monday, the boat began to unexpectedly turn southwards.

"The first point where she starts turning south was probably the hardest 20 minutes of our lives," Basha told CBC News.

"We gave it a few hours to see if maybe she'd be kindof able to correct course but that didn't happen so that'ssort of when we knew that this is definitely a rudder, mechanical failure."

Bashasaid theboat is turned to the left as hard as it can but Ada continues to sail south on the Atlantic Ocean about 800 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland.

"My baby is out there on all on her own and there is nothing I can do," he said."She isout on her own and there is very little we can do from over here to remedy that."

Basha ispart of a groupof UBC students who've spentyears, and thousands of hours, working on the autonomous Sailbot.

• UBC Sailbot hoping to go where no robotic sailboat has gone before
• Students sending Sailbot across Atlantic for record-breaking crossing

The ambitiousengineering and computer science students had hoped to break records being the first team to successfully navigate a robotic boatacrossthe Atlantic Ocean.

The goal had been to land in Fenit, Ireland in about six to eight weeks.

Ada made it more than 800 kilometres when high winds hit. At a sailing speed of12.4 knots, according to the Sailbot's data, the boat was pushed fasterthan the team had expected.

"She was designed for a hull speed of five and a maximum theoretical speed about a 11," said Basha

"So a speed of 12 knots puts her beyond the realm of what we accounted for in terms of mechanical stress."

Despite the mechanical failure Basha and his ambitious classmates see this as a success, as Ada made it more than 25 percent of the 3000 kilometre trip.

"We've built an incredible beautiful machine. I don't feel like I've lost anything. I don't' think any of us feel a loss here."

Basha said its too expensive to try and head out into the ocean to retrieveit, so the only hope now is that westerly winds will push the floating boattowards North America

"If anyone is sailing on that side. stay on thelook out for a beautiful white boat. She says please stay clear but she does not bite. Please try to get her back to us."