Live Maps
The yellow line is the 2017 attempt, which ended mid-channel with the rudder servo having filled up with sea water, and the solar panels corroded. Fortunately the boat was rescued by a fishing trip and returned to the UK. I was amazed it was seen mid-channel, but very glad it was returned. The blue line is the 2019 attempt, which ended after 24 hours when the boat was collected by a local fisherman who being helpful, returned it to Torbay. The rudder linkage was damaged, and after repairing that it was too late for another attempt in 2019. The green line is the 2020 voyage. The start was delayed by the UK anti-coronavirus lockdown measures, and should have started on March 24th. It actually started on May 13th, the first day some of the lockdown measures were relaxed. The orange line is the 2023 attempt which was with the new boat. This started well, but still suffered from the bug that meant occasionally the boat headed in the wrong direction. Once into the Bay of Biscay it made no progress in the right direction, as it wasn't sailing into the wind. Because of the lack of progress, I sent override commands to return the boat to the UK. With the help of friends, and a borrowed yacht, the boat was retrieved from the channel between the Isle of Wight and Portland and returned to shore for improvements. It hasn't made it to sea again. Yet...
Each red pointer on the map represents a position report from Phil's Boat. The direction of the pointer shows the boat's intended heading. Note that the pointers are not plotted at equal time intervals. The blue dots are the pre-programmed course.