February 16, 2025 This March, students from Central Middle School in Victoria, BC, are embarking on a bold scientific adventure—launching an autonomous sailboat off the west coast of Vancouver Island with hopes of it making a trans-Pacific journey to Japan. If they succeed in completing the thirteen thousand km crossing, it will be the first shore-to-shore crossing of an ocean by robotic boat. It will also be the smallest boat ever to cross an ocean.
The project is part of an innovative hands-on learning experience where students design, prepare, and track an unmanned robotic vessel across the ocean. Their boat, equipped with sensors and GPS tracking, will navigate the Pacific, providing real-time data on ocean currents, weather patterns, and marine conditions.
The launch is planned for early March 2025, and the boat will be deployed from Bamfield on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. The students will release the vessel into the Pacific, where it will make use of an innovative wing sail technology to make progress into variable later winter weather conditions.
Throughout the journey, the students will monitor the boat’s progress online, tracking its location and analyzing the data it collects. This interactive component turns the voyage into a real-world classroom, reinforcing lessons in geography, oceanography, technology, and environmental science.
The initiative is part of a broader educational ocean exploration program, designed to engage students in STEM learning while fostering a connection with the world’s oceans. Similar projects have seen student-launched boats reach destinations as far as the Philippines and Europe. If successful, the Central Middle School vessel will add to this growing legacy of ocean-crossing educational boats.
This launch is a testament to the power of curiosity, innovation, and hands-on learning. Follow along as the students track their boat’s journey, and stay tuned for updates as it makes its way across the vast Pacific!
For more details and to follow the boat’s progress, visit our tracker page.
