Swiss and Solar, Sun21 Arrives New York

by Sail-World Cruising on 11 May 2007 7,000 miles travelled, not a drop of oil used...well it could be a sailing boat, but Sun21 has no sails. It is the solar powered catamaran developed and sponsored by the Swiss Transatlantic21 Association, and it made its historic arrival across the Atlantic into New York’s North Cove Marina this week.

Transatlantic21 Association set out to prove the feasibility of clean energy vessels on open seas, as well as the wide spread applications of this technology to transform the shipping and boating industry.

This technology will benefit both our waterways and conserve other natural resources. The solar-powered catamaran left continental Europe on December 3, 2006 from Chipiona, Spain. It arrived in Martinique on February 2nd completing its journey on the open seas and has been travelling up to New York through March and April. sun21 has also come to New York to usher in the first annual World Clean Energy Awards – an international platform created by the transatlantic21 Association to recognize the mainstreaming of clean energy. Unlike other awards programs, the World Clean Energy Awards recognizes innovation in action, as opposed to innovation on the drawing board. sun21 serves as the shining example of clean energy applications in practice.

'The transatlantic21 Association set out to showcase the power of clean energy. It has been my distinct pleasure to be a part of the crew of sun21 and to prove we don’t need oil to cross oceans. In modern society, we can travel the world in a way that is both efficient and respectful to our environment and our resources. This has been a liberating journey and one which I believe will transform the way we approach travel on our oceans, seas and waterways, ' commented Michel Thonney, Skipper of sun21.

sun21’s voyage and the first annual World Clean Energy Awards is sponsored by the transatlantic21 Association. Somfy and Messe Schweiz are event sponsors and Riverkeeper is a supporting partner. The events are also supported by ThinkSwiss - Brainstorm the future, a Swiss Government sponsored U.S. wide program on education, research and innovation. It focuses on the promotion and exchange of expertise and know-how in academia and the high-tech business community in Switzerland and the U.S. (_www.thinkswiss.Alt_ (http://www.thinkswiss.org/) ).

The transatlantic21 association was formed exclusively to fund and promote the first transatlantic crossing of sun21 -- a solar powered boat designed by ship builder Mark Wüst.