Simplicity
One of our mentors, Dr. Dave Barrett, provided us with an invaluable graphic representing the common pitfalls of robotic systems:
We have put significant work into developing the electrical system plan, always working towards a simple, elegant design rather than a messy, complicated one. We have managed to keep the power requirements at just 12V and 5V and the computation I/O down to just one 4-port serial module and one digital I/O module.
Diagram
This diagram illustrates our vision of the full electrical system as of the end of fall semester. We made sure to note the locations where wiring will need to pass out of or into sealed containers.
We plan to mount most important components inside a custom waterproof electronics housing, including the cRIO and FPGA, the WiFi radio, the voltage regulators, and the servo controller. This diagram is out-of-date in that it indicates three sensors (GPS, Digital Compass, and Anemometer), which we now plan to replace with just one (the Airmar WeatherStation).
Roadkill
We fixed every component in our system onto a plywood “roadkill” board so we could test the connections without worrying about the physical arrangement.
Olin Robotic Sailing Team 
Jason, Verrrrry interesting. After you slam-dunk this in Vancouver, then maybe you can start on a robotic sail using photon pressure to power us to the stars. I understand NASA abandoned their research on this (as well as most everything else), so a few good brains like yours are sadly needed in this country! GOOD LUCK!!!