This post began as a Wordless Wednesday entry but it didn't have the back-story to support it's fearsome looks which it desperately needed. In 2007 Earthrace began to show the World what bio-fuels were capable of to make their carbon footprint disappear to the many skeptics of the time and display an excellent performance level while doing so . A purpose built craft whose mission was to circumnavigate the Earth in record time. It did and cut the time by 18 days and now remains at 61 days with 11 minutes to spare.
No one had heard of a "wave piercing" hull design except for many of the submariners who ply the oceans. This vessel can't dive deep but it can get about 7 meters below the surface as it literally cuts through waves rather than ride atop them. It's generally accepted that a circumnagation record entails a distance traveled to be at least 21,600 nautical miles to become a certifiable record. By July 2008 the it became official. At optimum efficiency of 6 knots this 78 footer was capable of going 13,000 miles on a single tank of fuel. It likes to go faster and achieves 25 knots relatively easily but as you can imagine the mileage suffers and the tank now gets you about 2,800 miles at that speed.
There's some truth to the legend that changing a boat's name can bring bad luck. I'll leave you to find the details but suffice to say when Earthrace was renamed Ady Gil it didn't take long to seal its fate. Say hello to another visitor to Davey Jones locker. FYI =Only the vessel was lost the crew survived.
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