Earthrace into the Atlantic
by Bob Maxwell on 28 Apr 2008
Earthrace Latest Position Earthrace Media
http://www.earthrace.net
Earthrace, the world’s fastest, coolest and greenest powerboat kicked off its round the world race at 1433hrs CET on Sunday from Sagunto in Spain, in an attempt to break the round the world speed record and promote the use of sustainable fuels.
24 hours later, the 78ft wave-piercing trimaran has travelled 560 nautical miles at an average of 23.3 knots. The bio-fuelled powerboat had light conditions until Gibraltar, but has now moved into the Atlantic and is heading towards the Azores with a 1-2 metre swell on the starboard beam.
The lateast sat phone report from Kiwi skipper Pete Bethune can be heard below.
Its canned food for the next few days for Bethune and his crew of three; Navigator, Adam Carlson (Sweden); Engineer, Mark Russell (UK and USA); and Cameraman, Rob Drewett (UK and Spain), plus one special guest crew for the first leg, 39 year old Lisa Topley, mother of two from Southampton, UK, as they head heading for their first fuel stop in the Azores. Bethune confessed in a sat phone report that the fresh food was left dockside.
Before the start Bethune commented 'For the next 40 days we’re going to be living on adrenaline,' said Bethune. 'The crew have one thing on our minds – the world record.
'We are fully committed to beating the record, and we don’t intend to leave anything to chance – the boat is fully geared up and weather conditions are optimum. There have been five attempts, including our own first attempt last year, since the current record was set in 1998 and we’ll do everything we can to mark this tenth anniversary by beating it!'
The full record route is as follows:
Sagunto (Spain) – Horta (Azores) – San Juan (Puerto Rico) – Colon (Panama Canal, Panama), – Manzanillo (Mexico) – San Diego (USA) – Maalaea Harbor, Maui (Hawaii) – Majuro (Marshall Islands) – Koror (Palau) – Singapore – Kochi/Cochin (India) – Salalah (Oman) – Port Said (Suez Canal, Egypt) – Sagunto (Spain)
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