LONDON BOAT SHOW EXCLUSIVE:
Earthrace Announces Support From MarineTrack
Earthrace, the fastest eco boat on the planet, has officially announced a challenge to break the round the world speed record attempt, beginning from the Vulkan Shipyard, Sagunto, Spain on 1st March 2008. The challenge will be supported by Marine Track, a company that has a rich history of providing tracking and monitoring solutions to a wide variety of organisations operating in both the public and private sectors.
Fuelled entirely on 100% biodiesel donated by Portuguese company, SGC Energia, and with a net zero carbon footprint, the boat is a wave piercing trimaran, designed to cut through waves rather than sail over them. She is capable of submerging up to 7 metres as she does so. Earthrace is also a showcase of environmentally friendly technologies such as two 540hp low-emissision engines from Cummins Mercruiser, non-toxic anti-foul and an extremely fuel efficient hull design.
To enable the Earthrace ground and base crews, as well as the media and the thousands of supporters world-wide, to follow the boat as she thunders over the oceans and seas, MarineTrack will install their established marine specific global tracking device to automatically transmit onboard data back to their virtual display console. The VDC will display real time progress reports viewed online through a dedicated public access earthrace mission account.
Circumnavigating the globe represents the pinnacle of powerboat challenges, and at more than 24,000 nautical miles is the world’s longest speed challenge. The current record holder is British boat ‘Cable and Wireless Adventurer’ who took the record in a time of 75 days in 1998.
From the start in Valencia, the boat will cross the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans and travel through the Panama and Suez Canals as it thunders around the planet’s circumference at a maximum speed of 40 knots. The full record route is as follows:
Valencia - Azores - Puerto Rico - Panama Canal – Manzanillo, Mexico – San Diego, USA – Hawaii – Majuro, Marshall Islands – Koror, Palau – Singapore – Cochin, India – Salalah, Oman - Suez Canal - Valencia.
Skipper Pete Bethune (NZ) believes that Earthrace has a great opportunity to nourish and grow the global biodiesel industry, as well as to advance biodiesel as a genuinely viable alternative to petroleum diesel.
Bethune said, “Governments have a role to legislate to make biofuels happen. If it were up to market forces, biofuels wouldn't happen at all. Politicians in Western Europe must be prepared to stand up to the oil industry and be more supportive of the biofuels industry to make sure the production of biofuels is sustainable."
Marinetrack CEO, Captain Stuart Nicholls agrees with the missions purpose. “The world is rapidly changing and we must focus our attention to alternative resources and technology, this mission is important as it will raise awareness of such alternatives. I believe our systems will also help deliver this message to a growing global online audience.”
A successful attempt by Earthrace would mark the first time in history that an official UIM Powerboat world record has been broken using only renewable fuel.
Back To Press Office |
