The previous-generation Vendée Globe teams made big advances with autopilots, some putting self-learning at the heart of development. Once the Ultims arrived with bigger budgets, along with the latest VG programmes, things really took off – driven forward by technically ambitious sailors like François Gabart (above). During the Brest Atlantique Gabart was also trialling the new Oscar collision-avoidance system, seen here (far left) on Macif’s giant spar and at the masthead of a superyacht (left)


The pilot, man’s best enemy? Would Rule 52 have lived on in crewed racing? ‘A boat’s standing rigging, running rigging, spars and movable hull appendages shall be adjusted and operated only by the power provided by the crew.’ Until now exceptions introduced in the sailing instructions of offshore events were


limited to the use of electric winches or canting-keel systems for large yachts, and autopilots for solo or two-handed races. So the RORC has really introduced a big change in 2020 by allowing the pilot to be used regardless of the number of crew. Already at the end of last season the race instructions for the Mediterranean Middle Sea Race classic included this clause. If the new-generation systems steer better than humans will we see tomorrow’s


races being raced under autopilot almost from start to finish, from the exit of the Solent to the finish line? Until now it was unimaginable to put together a decent offshore crew without several good helmsmen. Soon a good knowledge of autopilots could prove just as decisive. The Ocean Race is also at the heart of the debate. In the race’s ‘senior’ Imoca


class, with a relatively small crew of five (six with a minimum of four women), the helmsman’s watches will prove to be devilishly long (or frequent). This is why in my opinion the autopilot should be allowed… but only in compass mode and not in wind mode, as the supremacy of man over machine should continue to assert itself. But for how long?


Fred Augendre 50 SEAHORSE


actuator control unit (MadController), and at the end of the chain a ‘classic’ commercial actuator on the helm. Not only does the MadBrain pilot run on


new algorithms, written ‘from a blank page’, according to Matthieu Robert, but the Mad- Controller power unit allows for unprece- dented steering precision. Hugo Kerhascoët, a former NKE


employee recruited as technical director by the start-up in Lorient, wrote the Mad- Brain program. ‘Classically,’ he says, ‘a driver is controlled in increments of one degree. We were quite happy when the margin of error was plus or minus 0.7°, meaning that between the target point and the execution the difference can reach one and a half degrees. ‘With our power unit the command is


given to a tenth of a degree, and the error is of the same order, so that if we ask the pilot to put on 2.5° of helm it will put on between 2.4° and 2.6°. This is the rudder finesse needed today on a high-speed Multi 50, or even on a foiler.’ Madintec’s competitor Pixel sur Mer are working on similar principles, a main


CHRISTOPHE LAUNAY/DPPI


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