Voyager 2.6 Conclusions

Detailed Analysis - What Happened ?

March 2023 Voyage 

Detailed analysis of the recovered vessel and the log files has yielded the following conclusions:

• At 3 hours out, the vessel could not hold course. This was most likely due to some mechanical  damage to the sail.
• At 8 hours out, the sail stopped responding to regular queries via Bluetooth. This was a sudden electrical failure. The battery was discharging at the normal rate, and remained close to fully charged.
• Data from the wing angle sensor showed that the sail was feathering with the prevailing wind until the last few minutes as it entered the surf.
• It appears that the steering was operational for the whole voyage. After communication with the sail was lost, the wind moved more aft, and the vessel was able to converge toward the rhumb line. with the wind in this quarter the boat could hold course regardless of the state of the sail.
• Later the wind moved further toward a southerly driving the boat toward the lee shore near Blairgowrie.

So it appears that:

• The hull, keel and rudder remined intact and operational at sea.
• The mast was intact and the sail was feathering with the wind while at sea.
• The sail lost the ability to drive at around 3 hours. This was either due to failure of the wing sail servo or mechanical damage to the tail. The servo continued to draw current in accordance with normal patterns so it is likely that it was fine, so mechanical damage to tail seem most likely.
• The sail electronics did fail eventually.
• The tiller was knocked out of place and hit the off-switch when the vessel washed ashore.
• The sail and magnetic disk were rotating right up to when the power was switched off.
• The sail and magnetic disk were not with the vessel when it was found, in dark with torch.
  It is likely that the sail was nearby on the beach or in the shallows, but at the time it was wrongly assumed that the mast and sail were lost at sea many hours earlier.

Next Steps - Stonger more Waterproof Sail

• A new mast and sail are being built. The mast is much stronger than its predecessor, however this now appears unnecessary now that it has become apparent that the mast did not fail at sea.
• The new sail is a lower profile with a longer chord, yielding a similar overall area to its predecessor, which should greatly increase its robustness.
• The new sail is being built using heavier construction than before. with thicker 3D printed components, and larger diameter carbon tubing for the tail boom and counterweight boom.
• The electronic components are being built with the intention of surviving under water for a reasonable length of time.