Earthrace on track for Hawaii

by Powerboat-World.com on 10 Apr 2007 The 78 footer Earthrace left San Diego two days ago and is continuing on her round-the-world speed record attempt. The bio-diessel powered trimaran collided off the coast of Guatemala with an unlit fishing skiff, resulting in considerable damage that has been mostly repaired in San Diego.

The wave piercing multihull is now 800 nautical miles off the coast of California en-route to Hawaii, the next refueling stop on her global circumnavigation. Her speed is still restricted to 15 knots because of drive train vibrations.

According to Earthrace Captain Pete Bethune, the damage and subsequent repairs were much more extensive than initially anticipated.

The gearbox and engine mounts were replaced first, however there remained a series of vibrations from various sources. The engine was realigned, the propeller shaft straightened, and the Hytorq propeller rebalanced.

Bethune says 'the hardest part was getting the driveshaft in and out of Earthrace while she remained in the water. It was an extremely challenging exercise that thankfully went well'. The 3-inch diameter shaft is 15ft long and weighs close to 400 pounds, so handling it requires a team of people.

Earthrace Engineer Scott Fratcher says, 'there is now a single vibration left that we now believe to be the Propflex coupling, which joins the gearbox to the propeller shaft'.

This was found to be off-centre by 10/1000 of an inch. The plan is to swap this for a new coupling as soon as Earthrace reaches Maui in Hawaii.

Meanwhile Earthrace continues her voyage across the Pacific with the vibration ever present, but the crew believes it will be fine at least until Hawaii. Earthrace is expected to reach port late on Thursday night this week, local time.

Her passage can be follwed by satellite at www.earthrace.net