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 News As History - October 11, 2008

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Subject: EARTHRACE: World record attempt
DropBear    3/4/2008 5:16:05 PM

Anyone interested in following this swanky boat on its record attempt...

h*tp://www.earthrace.net/

 
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DropBear    Wow!!!   3/4/2008 5:24:44 PM
 
"The range of Earthrace depends on speed.  At 6 knots she can go an incredible 13,000nm (24,000km) on one tank of biodiesel.  That's over half way around the globe!  Of course your crew gets grumpy at 6kn when you're in such a high speed vessel.  At 25 knots she has a range of about 2,000nm (3,700km)."






 
 
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Herald12345       3/4/2008 5:44:07 PM
Interesting. I will follow it as I would like to see how a wave piercing catamaran will work at that scale.under Atlantic conditions.

Herald





 
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Herald12345    Check that.   3/4/2008 6:00:21 PM
Apparently they've had engine, propeller and  navigation problems with their first attempt which significantly calls into question both their ability to mount the effort and the safety of the designs they use.
 
Earthrace boat collision.

Tragedy at sea: Earthrace team hits fishing boat off Guatemala, 1 dead and crew still held

Posted Mar 24th 2007 11:16AM by Mike Magda
Filed under: Biodiesel, Etc., Transportation Alternatives



The biodiesel-powered Earthrace superboat will not set a round-the-world record. Last Sunday while traveling near the coast of Guatemala at night, the radical 78-foot Earthrace boat collided with a small fiberglass fishing boat. The Earthrace boat was basically unscathed except for prop damage but the fishing boat was demolished. The Earthrace crew managed to pull two injured fisherman out of the water but couldn't find a third. The Earthrace boat limped into a Guatemalan port where officials have not let the crew leave, even though repairs have been made. Court appearances have been postponed three times. The captain's blog has been very detailed in the accident and days in port. Captain Pete Bethune, who hails from New Zealand, was not at the wheel of Earthrace when the accident happened. An engineer was driving and he told the skipper that the fishing boat may not have had the proper lighting. That engineer has left the team, and the team has posted a want ad for a replacement. Earthrace had been slowed early in the run with prop problems. According to Bethune's blog, his insurance company has settled with the dead man's family. Now it may be only a question of whether any of the crew, which includes an American, will have to face criminal charges.

[Source: stuff.co.nz]

Same site attempt 2

Earthrace captain really, um, "getting into" next biodiesel circumnavigation attempt

Posted Dec 20th 2007 3:53PM by Sebastian Blanco
Filed under: Biodiesel, Etc., Green Culture, Green Daily



The first Earthrace attempt ended in defeat back in April. The idea was to circle the globe on a biodiesel-powered boat, but there were just too many problems (and one deadly accident). But, the idea - and boat - are just too cool to be sent into history without a second chance, so the New Zealand team will try again in 2008, trying to beat the circumnavigation record of 74 days, 20 hours and 58 minutes. And, with a little special help from the captain, the second time just might be the charm.

The plan is to set sail from from Valencia, Spain at the beginning of March and "traverse the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans as well as the Panama and Suez canals in its more-than-24,000-nautical-mile journey," according to Fox News. That's similar to the plan from last time. What's new? How about a little bit of fat taken from the captain and turned into biodiesel? The Fox article says:

He [Pete Bethune] also made a symbolic gesture towards the project, undergoing liposuction with two other volunteers, which produced 10 liters - a bit more than 2 1/2 gallons - of human fat, enough to power the boat for 8 nautical miles.

That'll help. For the entire carbon-neutral trip, the Earthrace will need 165,000 liters of biodiesel. Anyone want to donate?

[Source: Fox News via Domestic Fuel]

I wish them success.

Herald



 
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Yimmy       3/4/2008 6:19:39 PM
Pointless boat, pointless "record" attempt, stupid hippies, poor dead fisherman.
 
 
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DropBear       3/4/2008 6:56:16 PM
Pointless boat, pointless "record" attempt, stupid hippies, poor dead fisherman.
 
 

Not pointless at all. It is a fantastic way of proving advanced nautical designs out of the lab in the real world.
 
It is part of our human adventrous spirit. Records and their attempts challenge engineers and past ideas on how things are done.
 
If they are indeed hippies, then they aren't stupid as they obviously have excellent business/engineering skills.
 
Investing in biodiesel isn't stupid. Relying on existing fuels is.
 
Never met a "poor" fisherman, so can't comment on that.
 
 
 
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Herald12345       3/4/2008 9:16:34 PM












Pointless boat, pointless "record" attempt, stupid hippies, poor dead fisherman.

 


 




Not pointless at all. It is a fantastic way of proving advanced nautical designs out of the lab in the real world.

 I agree that the effort is worth the risk. I just wish they had thought through such things as collision avoidance and propulsion just a little better. A cowled impeller pod might have been a smart choice to avoid prop strike

It is part of our human adventurous spirit. Records and their attempts challenge engineers and past ideas on how things are done.

Dick Rutan built his reputation on this kind of effort. 

If they are indeed hippies, then they aren't stupid as they obviously have excellent business/engineering skills.

Business skills certainly. Engineering skills good based on their first attempt.  

Investing in biodiesel isn't stupid. Relying on existing fuels is.

Bio-diesel to break energy even, has to be rice or soy or  some easily fermented fuel source, that doesn't take more therms to create than you can extract from the final product. Really not my area of knowledge. That sounds more like yours or Shirrush's area of expertise.

Never met a "poor" fisherman, so can't comment on that.

Poor fisherman is a Vietnamese or Brazilian who lives on and operates from a pole boat and uses throw or drag nets to catch fish from the Mekong or the Amazon to sell or eat. Those folks are POOR.

Herald

 

 



 
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Herald12345    Brain Fart.    3/4/2008 10:18:08 PM
Burt Rutan not Dick.

Herald

 
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