Please select your home edition
Edition
Lloyd Stevenson - AC Alinghi 1456x180px TOP

Rothschild delays Plastika sail across the Pacific

by BW Media round-up on 12 Apr 2009
David de Rothschild in planning mode SW
Billionaire banking heir David de Rothschild has had to delay his extraordinary journey in a plastic bottle boat called Plastiki from San Francisco to Sydney because of 'teething problems'(See original story).

Originally meant to depart on 28th April, exactly 62 years after his hero Thor Heyerdahl set out on his epic journey, the boat will now set off 'later this summer' according to de Rothschild.

The purpose of the journey is to highlight the floating plastic of the North Pacific Gyre, the enormous 'garbage patch' caught up in the swirling Pacific Ocean currents and now as large as France or Texas.

In spite of the delay, de Rothschild insists his craft will sail in the next few weeks and could one day revolutionise the use of recycled plastics in general and the design of boats in particular. Much will depend on how his craft behaves once the Plastiki expedition is under way, he admitted to the New Yorker recently. His craft should perform well, but could break up, he said.

'These are just unknowns,' he told reporters. 'That's an adventure! If it was planned and everyone knew, no one would be interested.'

The garbage patch, which has been the subject of much debate, even disbelief, because of the size and horror of its existence, lies north-west of Hawaii. It was discovered in 1999 by Oceanographer Charles Moore who found that its waters contained tens of thousands of pieces of plastic per square mile, the remains of rubbish caught in the region's circulating ocean currents. This pollution is now devastating populations of seabirds and fish that live in the region.

During his trip, de Rothschild will collect water samples and post blogs, photographs and video clips of the area, in an attempt to publicise the perils posed by plastic pollution.

The 30-year-old environment crusader has designed his special catamaran with a hull made of frames filled with 12,000 plastic bottles. The cabin and bulkheads of Plastiki have also been constructed out of a special recycled material called srPET, made of webs of plastic.

'The plastic water bottle epitomises everything about this throwaway, disposable society,' said de Rothschild, who trained to be a showjumper in England and who has trekked to both the north and south poles. However, he added that he was not aiming to demonise plastic, but was trying to highlight its alternative uses, as well as focusing global attention on the dangers posed to the ecology in regions such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

When it is ready, the Plastiki will carry de Rothschild and a crew of six on a 10,500-mile journey from San Francisco to Hawaii, Midway Island, Bikini Atoll, Vanuatu and, finally, Sydney. There will be no accompanying craft, but the Plastiki will be met by a support team at each landfall.

The destinations for the craft's great voyage have been selected to highlight a variety of environmental threats, including overfishing and climate change. However, the most important part of Plastiki's route will be its voyage round the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific, where it will focus global awareness on the issue of marine debris and pollution.

Fish and seabirds mistake plastic for food and choke to death. At the same time, plastics absorb pollutants including PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and pesticides, bringing poisons into the food chain.

In one study of plastic pollution in the Pacific, scientists found that populations of albatrosses in the north-west Hawaiian islands, a national marine sanctuary, have been devastated by plastic from the garbage patch. 'Their body cavities are full of huge chunks of many types of plastics, from toothbrushes to bottle caps to needles and syringes,' said Myra Finkelstein, an environmental toxicologist based at University of California, Santa Cruz. 'They can't get them up. They can't get them out. It's heartbreaking.'

de Rothschild insists his project is seeking not just to show up the planet's ecological woes but, through the design and construction of Plastiki, he will also be highlighting how disposable plastics can be used in a constructive way.

'I want the Plastiki to make a statement that it's our lack of reuse, uses and disposal that it is at fault, not the material itself,' he said.

David de Rothschild regularly appears in Tatler's list of Britain's most eligible bachelors. He is also known as one of the country's leading 'eco-toffs', those young men and women who use their inherited wealth to promote environmental causes.

Vetus-Maxwell 2021 v2 FOOTERCyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERHyde Sails 2024 - One Design

Related Articles

2025 Transat Café L'OR is packed with surprises
73 boats sailed by 146 co-skippers will set sail on October 26th 73 boats sailed by 146 co-skippers will set sail on October 26th on the TRANSAT CAFÉ L'OR Le Havre Normandy.
Posted today at 7:20 am
The Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue is back at sea
Peter Burling joining the team for the Rolex Fastnet Race After a refit that began in March, the Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue was relaunched this Thursday, July 3. Lined up for the months ahead is an exciting race programme, culminating this year with the Transat Café L'Or in October.
Posted today at 5:14 am
Transpac's Middle fleet sets off for Diamond Head
Seventeen boats begin the 2,225-mile Pacific Crossing in light air conditions Seventeen boats begin the 2,225-mile Pacific Crossing in light air conditions in Transpac's second start.
Posted today at 2:39 am
GKSS Match Cup Sweden & Nordea Women's Trophy D4
High stakes for semi-finalists as the final four teams in each division are locked in The third day of racing at GKSS Match Cup Sweden saw the completion of the quarter-final match-ups in both the Open and Women's class, locking in the final four teams in each division for Friday's semi-finals.
Posted on 3 Jul
2025 29er Europeans at Lake Garda Day 1
Five teams tied at the top Ikke Huber / Liam Berger (Switzerland) lead the charge after sweeping all 3 races in the Green fleet — an impressive perfect score of 2 points. Lucas & Moritz Hamm, the dynamic twin duo from Germany, matched their Swiss rivals with consistency and pace.
Posted on 3 Jul
Onboard reporters in the Course des Caps
Enjoying the challenge of bringing the race to life In the Course des Caps - Boulogne sur Mer - Banque Populaire du Nord, the Onboard Reporters, or OBRs, are back doing a wonderful job of bringing IMOCA racing to life with pictures, videos, interviews and reports from the boats.
Posted on 3 Jul
Rolex TP52 Worlds in Cascais Day 2
Consistent American Magic Quantum Racing move clear ahead American Magic Quantum Racing stepped three points clear at the top of the 2025 Rolex TP52 World Championship leaderboard today in Cascais, Portugal on the strength of a first and third from two breezy races.
Posted on 3 Jul
Unforgettable Transatlantic Race 2025 finish
First to arrive was Ocean Fifty Calamity, co-skippered by Timo Tavio and Kimo Nordström. It was rush hour in Cowes on Day 15 of the west-to-east Transatlantic Race 2025, as boats crossed the finish line in Cowes within minutes of each other after an epic 3,000-mile battle for top honors in IRC 1.
Posted on 3 Jul
iQFOiL World Championships set to open in Aarhus
Olympic medalists and world-class riders gather in Denmark for the biggest iQFOiL event of the year. The stage is set in Aarhus for a spectacular week of high-speed sailing as the iQFOiL World Championships 2025 kick off on 4 July, bringing together over 200 of the world's best windsurfers from more than 40 nations.
Posted on 3 Jul
The Ocean Race Europe to showcase new race tracker
Developed with PredictWind to revolutionise race coverage The Ocean Race, often described as the toughest test of a team in sport and widely recognised as a leader in impactful ocean health initiatives, and PredictWind, a global leader in marine weather forecasting, are collaborating on a new race tracker.
Posted on 3 Jul