Biodiesel-powered Earthrace boat ready to try circumnavigation again
If at first you don't succeed, why not try again with a bit of your own fat in the engine? The biodiesel-powered Earthrace boat is ready to set off on its second around-the-world attempt today, according to Motor Boats Monthly. The badass trimaran departs from Spain's Sagunto at 1 pm today (local time) and will try to circle the globe in record time. The current record is 75 days and was set by the British boat Cable & Wireless in 1998, Stuff.co.nz reports.
In addition, Stuff.co.nz says that skipper Pete Bethune said he is fully aware of the recent spate of bad news regarding biofuels and said, "We spend almost as much time highlighting the negative aspects of biofuels." The team's first crack at sailing around the world on biodiesel ended in defeat almost exactly a year ago (April 30) following a number of setbacks and one deadly accident. Here's hoping the new attempt sees better luck.
[Source: Motor Boats Monthly, Stuff.co.nz]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
j 2:07PM (4/27/2008)
Interesting new source for biofuel: algae.
http://vertigro2day.blogspot.com/
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Kevin Nugent 8:14PM (4/27/2008)
Interesting but think about all that fuel used for the sake of a world record.
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GoodCheer 7:14PM (4/27/2008)
I have to say I find this a bit of a joke. The SAILING round-the world record is just over 50 days. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne_Trophy). Those are certainly bigger more expensive boats, but they use a heck of a lot less fuel to do the same job.
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