The boat
that sails
itself.
NAIR Sailing is ETH Zürich's student engineering team designing a fully autonomous sailboat to cross the Atlantic.
4,000 kilometres of open ocean
The Microtransat Challenge is the longest-running autonomous sailing competition in the world — a transatlantic race for uncrewed vessels under 2.4 metres long. Since 2010, no team has completed the east-to-west crossing. We are out to change that.
We are building a 2.4-metre sailing platform that navigates, trims its own sails, and routes around weather — running the entire autonomy stack on less than 20 W of continuous power.
Portugal to the Caribbean. The long way.
The Microtransat course runs from a line off the coast of Portugal to a line stretching from Martinique to Barbuda. Boats must cross the entire Atlantic without intervention.
Built for sixty days alone.
Every subsystem onboard is chosen for reliability above all other qualities: the ability to fail gracefully two thousand kilometres from the nearest human. Mechanical simplicity, redundant compute, and zero moving parts where we could help it.
Full technical breakdown coming soon
Cross-discipline
by design.
We are commited to building the most reliable boat we can, and that means building a team with the widest possible range of skills and perspectives.
Composite Structures
Design and construction of the boat's hull and sails.
Mechanical Systems
Design and construction of the boat's rudder and sail mechanisms.
Electrical Systems
Telemetry and Navigation systems.
Power Systems
Solar power generation and energy management.
Autonomy & Routing
Weather routing, planning, decision-making.
Media & Communications
Documenting the project and sharing it with the world.
Build the boat with us.
Built with the industries we’ll one day work in.
We are actively seeking partnerships with companies and organisations in engineering, maritime technology, and ocean science. If you are interested in supporting the mission, we would like to hear from you.