Earthrace abandons Round World record race
by Rob Kothe on 1 Jun 2007
Earthrace coming into port Adham I. Mostafa
www.xtremephotography.com
The biodiesel powered trimaran Earthrace has abandoned her round the world record attempt for now. John Allen from Earthrace has confirmed the news. He said a few minutes ago 'The race is over. We gave it our best but came up short. Pretty devastating but we are regrouping today and working on where we go from here.
'The damage will be repaired over the next 2-3 days and our aim is to then take the boat up to the America's Cup in Valencia. Afterwards we will begin our European promotional tour.'
Earthrace had left Barbados on March 10th. After a fatal collision with an unlit fishing boat off the Gutamelan coast, the crew was detailed for ten days before being cleared of any liability.
She restarted her record attempt on April 7, 2007 from San Diego, California and needed to finish back in San Diego by 21st of June to break the record of 75 days, set by the British boat Cable & Wireless in 1998.
From Malaga, Spain Earthrace had set out for Tenerife in the Canary Islands to refuel before heading across the Atlantic to Barbados, a distance of approx 2800 nautical miles - the longest leg of the race.
Soon after leaving Malaga, the 78 footer’s GPS track reversed and the radical waver piercer headed back to port.
Earthrace suffered substantial damage as she tracked towards Gibraltar across the Mediterranean Sea, and cannot continue.
A full statement is expected from the Earthrace team within 24 hours
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