The Scam of the Year
I had to laugh. The Mayflower400, team have been leading their public, by the nose throughout this lamentable charade. The nwebsite is a farrago of lies and misdirections. In fact, the craft is not propelled by the output of solar cells. The maximun output of the solar array, at the very best, is about 4% of the power required to propel the boat at the general speed that it attained.. The boat, in fact is propelled by two diesel/electric sets. One for propulsion, and the other for general power. The solar array, is merely to provide green camouflage. The boat is fitted with a FischerPanda AGT-DC-22000-48V, main drive supplying power to two 48 Volt Fischer Panda 20KW 600rpm EasyBox Shaft Motors. The diesel provides 21.9KW (continuous) power, from a Kubota 4cylinder 1498 cc diesel. The orher engine, a Fischer Panda AGT-DC-4000--48V. Nowhere in the website are these mentioned. Only vague, and very carefully written allusions to the solar array being able to provide power for propulsion and to power the electronics and services.
As to it's successful crossing of the Atlantic, it broke down about a hundred miles short of the Azores, and drifted free for about a week, until a boat from The Azores took it in tow to Horta Harbour, where repairs were made From there it had to be towed out into the open sea, but that might have been a regulation forbidding crewless boats from navigating in coastal waters.
It's progress across The Atlantic was nothing to commend it. It was erratic in course keeping, at times pointing ian almost any direction but America. Then it's speed dropped from the 7 knots which it had so far maintained, to 1 or 2 knots. At which point, it would have been many,many deys getting to it's declared destination. It was announced that the destination had changed to Halifax, Nova Scotia,. hardly mimicing the original Mayflower. The same continent, but not even the same country. It limped on for a while, until finally being, once more, powered off and taken in tow for the final 300 miles. The helmsmanship of the towing boat was certainly better that that of the AI, holding exactly, to the couse for Halifax, rather than the erratic couse under it's own control
Then, they have the gall, to claim a successful crossing of the Atlantic, by a boat driven by the output of an inadequate array of solar cells. On that basis, perhaps we should re-write the record of The Titanic, citing it's successful crossing of The Atlantic.
Nothing is said for an earlier crossing of The Atlantic, BOTH ways by an autonamous boat, the Saildrone, which did it without engines of any sort, and did it without problems. Driven entirely by the wind, with control power from a more effective solar array
As, I said, a Scam from end to end
Biting the hand that feeds IT
