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The 2008 Unmanned Mini TransAt began at 2 PM Eastern Daylight Time (14:00 UTC-4) on June 3. At that time, two four-foot long unmanned boats were launched from the Maine Maritime Academy's Arctic Schooner Bowdoin approximately 300 nm NE of Sable Island, Nova Scotia and 43 nm SW of Cape Race, Newfoundland. The unmanned boats participating in this first trans-Atlantic "mini boat" race were named: O-Solo-Me-O and Running Free. Each boat was designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the north Atlantic and to always sail downwind of the prevailing west-to-east winds of this region. O-Solo-Me-O and Running Free were also each fitted with a GPS tracking system so that their positions could be tracked at two hour intervals.
The course paths below were collected from each GPS system installed on Bowdoin, O-Solo-Me-O and Running Free and sent via satellite to the Horizon Marine, Inc. iBoatTrack.com website. This data was used with Google Earth below to plot the paths below. Use you mouse and keyboard to scroll in and out and move the position of the view below
On July 3, Running Free apparently broke apart when she came ashore on the rocks of Mistaken Point, NL. At that time. her GPS transponder stopped transmitting. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Newfoundland Labrador reported upon Running Free’s loss on July 4. Watch and listen to CBC Broadcast. At 8 PM EDT on August 19, O-Solo-Me-O reported her position to be 47°25'31.88"N, 54°10'40.81"W, and on August 24, shortly after 2 PM EDT, she was found by Bob Buckmaster of Fox Harbour, Newfoundland. When found, O-Solo-Me-O was on the beach of Goat Island, a small island just north of Red Island, in the northern part of Placentia Bay. She was dismasted and has a small crack in her hull.
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