Biodiesel fuelled round the world record bid
Majuro, Marshall Islands, – Earthrace at half way stage of Pacific Crossing.
Earthrace reached Majuro in the Marshall Islands in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 17 April, where she stopped for about 5 hours to refuel and to replenish the boat, before continuing her westward journey on her world record circumnavigation attempt. Majuro represents the approximate half way point of the Pacific crossing for Earthrace. The skipper of Eartharce, Pete Bethune, said “the refueling stop was efficient and successful and we also enjoyed plenty of support from the local authorities who went out of their way to accommodate us – despite the late hour”.
Earthrace began her journey on March 10 in Barbados and is aiming to beat the current world circumnavigation record of 75 days set by Cable & Wireless in 1998. However, Earthrace has considerable time to make up as she lost 10 days in Guatemala and then another 6 days in San Diego – which put her at one stage more than 4000 nautical miles behind the current world record pace.
However she has been making excellent time since leaving San Diego on 8 April and has taken approximately 1000 nautical miles off the deficit on her run from San Diego to Majuro alone. Her next refueling stop is Koror, in the Republic of Palau, where she is expected to arrive sometime on Sunday morning 22 April local time. At last report, Earthrace was approximately 600 miles west of Majuro and making good time in 2-3m following seas.
After stopping in Koror, Earthrace will next refuel in Singapore, which represents the approximate half way point for the race. Earthrace is expected to berth in Singapore, where she will be kindly hosted by the One 15 Marina, sometime between 25 – 27 April. There she will refueled with 100% biodiesel sponsored by Carotech, Malaysia. Carotech is the first and only public-listed biodiesel company in Malaysia and produces a high quality biodiesel sourced from palm oil. Pete Bethune says “Carotech were one of the first biodiesel companies outside of the US to support us; they are an impressive company and produce top notch product. We look forward to taking their fuel on board for the next leg of the race to Cochin, India”
Bethune also went on to say that Earthrace was hoping to take up to 2 members of the public on the next race leg from Singapore to Cochin, India – in return for a donation towards the project of US$15,000 per person. Anyone interested in taking up this opportunity should contact the Earthrace Operations Manager, John Allen at john@earthrace.net. Allen, who arrives in Singapore on Sunday 22 April to oversee preparations for the Earthrace visit, said “Singapore promises to be one of the more exciting and enjoyable stops on this record attempt – we have received lots of local support and we look forward to showing the boat off to the Singapore public in due course”
