Earthrace2 will be used in conservation missions around the world and will have a range of 10,000 nautical miles. Construction is expected to begin later this year.

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The radical looking Earthrace2 has been designed by Auckland Naval Architects LOMOcean Design.

It is based on the original Earthrace, the 100% biofuel eco-boat that still holds the world record for circumnavigating the globe in a powerboat.

See a video of the original Earthrace below

In 2008, the trimaran completed the journey in 60 days 23 hours and 49 minutes, smashing the previous record by almost two weeks.

The new Earthrace2 will serve as a base of operations for the Earthrace Conservation team and will be pivotal for increasing the organisation’s work in addressing illegal fishing.

Side view of Earthrace 2

Side view of Earthrace 2

 

The vessel, which will allow the team to run missions almost anywhere on earth, will have a range of about 10,000 nautical miles, and a top speed somewhere between 20 and 25 knots.

It will accommodate a crew of 26 and can run continuously for up 28 days.

Earthrace CEO, Captain Pete Bethune said that although a build location is yet to be decided, it is looking at options.

These include using a yard in Indonesia that builds composite military vessels.

He did confirm that construction of Earthrace2 is expected to begin later this year.

Earthrace 2

One of the renderings of the new trimaran

 

Bethune said the new trimaran will assist countries with pressing conservation issues.

“We’ve worked in a number of countries now targeting illegal fishing by foreign vessels, but the real work in open waters has been limited because we lacked our own long-range vessel. So this new vessel will be used in blue water patrols, mostly assisting local units to catch poachers,” he said.

LOMOcean Design has continued to develop the trimaran wave piercer concept since the original Earthrace.

Designer Craig Loomes said the hull form has several key advantages over conventional monohulls.

Firstly, the vessels are extremely efficient, allowing for greater range from a given amount of fuel.

Secondly, they offer outstanding seakeeping in rough seas, especially when at speed. This makes them especially suited to military and fisheries enforcement activities.

Earthrace

The original Earthrace

 

The original 24-metre Earthrace was launched in 2006 and was fuelled on biodiesel made from waste cooking oils.

In 2010, the vessel was involved in collision with the Japanese whaling security vessel, the Shonan Maru 2.

A month later, Bethune successfully boarded this vessel from a jetski in the middle of the night and presented the captain with a $3 million bill to replace Earthrace.

Bethune was taken back to Japan where he was convicted on five charges, including disrupting the whaling programne. He was jailed for five months before being released.

Earthrace is running a Kickstarter campaign in a couple of weeks to raise $50,000 to assist the team in completing the designs for the Earthrace2.