Amble father and daughter aim to sail model boat to Norway

A father and daughter have embarked on an ambitious project to sail a small unmanned boat from Amble to Norway.
By Ian Smith
Published 4th Jan 2024, 12:00 BST
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Alan and Elise Thompson have built a 1.2m boat hull which they are fitting with electronic components to make it sail autonomously.

They plan to launch the boat in the summer with a set of coordinates for a shore in Norway and meet it there when it arrives. They will then programme the boat to travel back to Amble.

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Project West Wind was inspired by one of Alan’s father’s past times where he would make a small model boat rigged with fishing line and hooks and send it out to the bay during west winds – any other wind would carry the boat back to shore.

Alan and Elise Thompson at work on their model boat.Alan and Elise Thompson at work on their model boat.
Alan and Elise Thompson at work on their model boat.

Builder Alan, 38, also has a keen interest in electronics and 3D modelling/manufacturing and has a CNC machine in his garage which he uses in his spare time.

And eight-year-old Elise, a pupil at Broomhill First School, shares many of her dad’s interests and loves joining in with his projects. A keen artist, she enjoys designing new toys on paper then making them from whatever is lying around.

Alan, who has written the computer programme in his spare time, said: “West Wind is equipped with lots of electronics available from eBay including a main computer, digital compass GPS module and various sensors. Most of the components cost around £3 to £10 each but need to be put together in such a way so that they all talk to each other in the same language.

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“The main computer of the boat is an Arduino UNO (£7) and all the other components transfer data to this. It does all of these calculations in milliseconds and is expected to do around 140 million of these calculations during its journey to Norway.

Elise at work on the project.Elise at work on the project.
Elise at work on the project.

“During its journey the boat will recharge its batteries using solar power and I hope to fit satellite communications to the boat and have it send back its location so I can share its progress.”

Testing is well underway and Alan hopes to launch the boat around the summer solstice so the solar charging system has the best chance of keeping it charged up for its journey.

Keep up to date with Project West Wind on Facebook.

Related topics:Norway