About
Richard Jenkins is founder and CEO of Saildrone, the Alameda company that designs, manufactures, and operates fleets of wind- and solar-powered uncrewed surface vehicles for ocean data collection, maritime domain awareness, and Navy missions. He developed Saildrone's autonomous wing technology over a decade-long effort to break the wind-powered land speed record, which he set at 126.2 mph in Nevada in 2009. He founded Saildrone in 2012; in 2019 SD 1020 became the first uncrewed vehicle to circumnavigate Antarctica. The company has grown into the dominant Western unmanned surface vessel platform, with Lockheed Martin's $50M strategic investment in 2024 anchoring its expansion into Navy missions and persistent maritime ISR.
Notable work
- Wind-powered land speed record holder (126.2 mph, 2009)
- First uncrewed circumnavigation of Antarctica (SD 1020, 2019)
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