Info on the upcoming 19th International Robotic Sailing Regatta
We are excited to announce that the 2027 IRSR will be held in salt water! Last year’s rookie team from Roger Williams University has graciously agreed to host this event at their campus facility in Bristol, Rhode Island. The actual event dates are still being confirmed but 7-11 June 2027 seems likely. Stay tuned to this site for updates/confirmations but the schedule and events will likely be very similar to the 2026 IRSR (visible under the rules tab).
For general questions about this competition please contact gstewart@rwu.edu.
18th International Robotic Sailing Regatta (8-12 June 2026)
The 18th annual International Robotic Sailing Regatta (IRSR) was held at the Merrill Family Sailing Center on Lake Cayuga in Ithaca New York. It was sponsored by the 2025 winners: Cornell University.
This first-time IRSR venue proved to provide excellent open water and great on-shore facilities and launching areas. The week produced light but sailable conditions for most of the days with southerly breezes ranging from 3-8 kts and bright sunshine. Late afternoon thunderstorms threatened to show up a couple of days, but only actually developed on Wednesday afternoon. This resulted in a one hour early closing and allowed three on-deck teams to resume their optional challenges on Friday morning.
Three rookie teams joined some of the regulars during this event and managed to demonstrate surprising performance; two of them ended up with overall podium placements. All entries were monohulls this year but with a mix of sail configurations: five conventionally-rigged sloops and two rigid-wing sails. Successful completion of the Search event remained elusive but three teams did attempt and were awarded partial points for their efforts.
The lead was uncertain throughout the beginning of the event, with both rookie teams from Roger Williams and St John’s HS showing surprising speed and operator-controlled excellence. Eventually, 4-time winner, WPI, showed their experience and emerged as overall leader, winning four of the seven events.
Congratulations to the team and their boat “Wild Goats”!
