[PUP] EarthRace high speed passagemaker leaving on world tour

[Georgs Kolesnikovs]

Brian Chiko wrote:
>It seems increasingly that for the best performance/speed/efficiency - these
>new trimaran designs may be the future of passagemaking.

Personally, with my background in sailing trimarans and interest in 
power cats, I'd love to see power trimarans find a market, but 
performance/speed/efficiency is not the entire equation. There is 
also comfort, safety and style, and adequate space for machinery and 
all the stuff people love to have aboard when voyaging, and lots of 
space for living and relaxing on the dock or at sea.

>Its just leaving New Zealand now on a preliminary fund-raising
>circumnavigation prior to then attempting a world speed record.
>http://www.earthrace.net/view.asp?webpage=69

That is an unbelievable schedule. Will they really get to Hawaii from 
New Zealand in the next 10 days? Will they really transit the Great 
Lakes in October and November?

Don't get me wrong. The Earthrace project is one of the most exciting 
things to appear on the boating scene in years, but . . .

--Georgs
-- 
Georgs Kolesnikovs
Your host at Trawlers & Trawlering, formerly Trawler World, since 1997

PS  Here's a backgrounder that I posted to Power Catamaran List in April:

Press release from Earthrace, the extraordinary
power trimaran built in New Zealand to set a
speed record for a circumnavigation of the world:

Under Way!

Auckland, New Zealand--Last week the Earthrace
boat and her crew began its sea trials in the
Waitemata Harbour in Auckland after two years in
concept and one year of building.  It was an
extremely pensive moment for all the crew as the
Cummins engines were fired up for the first time,
and the boat was powered under her own steam out
into the Harbour and beyond.

The boat has already attracted enormous interest
from other (somewhat surprised) boaties in
Auckland Harbour and local and international
media, with a film crew from the Discovery
Channel spending the past two days with the boat.

Only minor faults have been found as a result of
the testing so far which is extremely encouraging
and will mean very few modifications will need to
be made to the boat before she will be open-ocean
ready.

"You've got to expect a few things to go wrong
when you launch a new boat
  We're really lucky in
that so far we've only had a couple of minor
hitches.  The boat's about exactly where we
expected it to be, it's performing great!"- Pete
Bethune, Earthrace skipper.

The crew is hoping for a storm to come through in
the next week so the boat can be put to the test
in its true elements.

The Earthrace crew is extremely proud to have the
boat up and running and nearly ready to begin our
global mission.  This will begin late next week
with the crew taking the boat around the
Coromandel Peninsula over the Easter period with
stops in Whitianga, Tairua/Pauanui, Whangamata,
Mt Maunganui and Tauranga.

Please see the Earthrace website or listen to
your local radio stations for details of our
exact whereabouts if you'd like to see the boat
in the flesh and have a look through and meet the
crew.

More about Earthrace

The Earthrace is an attempt to set the world
record for circumnavigating of the globe.

The boat is to be fuelled with 100% biodiesel, a
fuel made from renewable sources such as canola
and rape.

The current 75-day record is held by British boat
Cable and Wireless in 1998, Earthrace aims to
complete the race in less than 65 days. It is
also the first time in history an official UIM
Powerboat record will be attempted using
renewable fuel.

The boat has a unique wave piercing hull that
allows the boat to pierce through the water
rather than riding over the top.

Wave piercing technology was originally
formulated for passenger ferry applications, and
more recently it has been applied to military
craft.

Wave piercing is a key element in getting the
record for circumnavigating the globe as it
allows the boat to run continuously at high speed
in both flat and rough sea conditions.

The Earthrace has been funded to date by
sponsorship from more than 200 marine supplies
companies who have donated everything from
onboard communications gear to high-tech toilets.

The boat will tour New Zealand from mid April through June.

http://www.earthrace.net/view.asp
http://www.cld.co.nz/welcome.htm
http://www.solarnavigator.net/history/cable_and_wireless.htm