Development and Prospect of Uncrewed Sailboat Hulls: A Review

ABSTRACT Uncrewed sailboats are a class of marine robotic platforms powered by ocean renewable energies, such as wind, solar, and wave energy, characterized by long endurance and wide‐area autonomous operation. Hull type and hydrodynamic performance directly determine the operational performance of uncrewed sailboats. In terms of hull design, uncrewed sailboats can be categorized as monohulls, multihulls (including catamarans and trimarans), and submersible‐type sailboats. Among them, monohulls are further divided into designs derived from crewed sailboats and purpose‐designed configurations, a shift from traditional reference designs to configurations tailored for unmanned missions. This review surveys the different hull types of uncrewed sailboats, analyzes the advantages, limitations, and development pathways of each design and discusses associated research methods. A comparative synthesis across the three hull families reveals consistent trade‐offs, consolidated into a scenario–capability–architecture matrix and a practical performance envelope to enable rapid, task‐driven selection. Finally, this review describes how the uncrewed sailboat community should best address these challenges with technology from other disciplines.