You can't buy one, but you can back what seems like a very interesting project: to help build a vehcile that could set an autonomous sailing world record. Eighteen days to go and they're at $30,000 towards a $80,000 goal.
From the Kickstarter listing.
Our boats have completed hundreds of hours of fully autonomous navigation and traversed hundreds of kilometers on the water.
We've proved a robust sailing algorithm. In the GPS trace below you can see the boat complete upwind tacking maneuvers without human control.
We've completed the Robotboat Mark VI design. We're going to build it like a surfboard; it will be incredibly strong and be capable of being rolled in waves indefinitely.
Comments
I hope he will comment this thread ;)
Interesting main sail. What is that design called? Can you point out some links to where I can get some info?
They will most likely face the same legal troubles that a german university did some years ago...
It was a huge effort with more then a million Euros spent on the boat, ready built when they learned the german government would not let them sail autonomously on the oceans (because the government in the end is responsible for things that may happen with a boat operated by its citizens).
The idea to declare it as a research bouy could be the trick to make it work in the end, would be nice if they make it!
That look like FishPI but with sail, cool.