Powered by vegetable oil and animal fat, a sleek new boat aims to circumnavigate the globe in record time.
New Zealand engineer Pete Bethune had a grand plan: Bring attention to the potential of biodiesel by building an innovative powerboat capable of setting an overall speed record for world circumnavigation. And he had a gruesomely flamboyant first step: Suck fat out of his own body to provide some of the fuel. Unfortunately, the quarter of a pound Bethune had lipoed created only enough biodiesel to power his one-of-a-kind boat, christened Earthrace, about 300 feet. To make the trip around the world, the 78-foot tri-hull will need 35,000 gallons of fuel (at its cruising speed of 15 to 25 knots, it gets about a mile a gallon). If all goes as planned, Bethune will raise the remaining $400,000 he needs to fund the voyage by March and set off on his 65-day quest. “I look forward to getting on the water,” Bethune says, “and proving to the world that renewable fuels are synonymous with power and performance. The biodiesel-fueled boat has a triple-hull design that allows it to pierce 50-foot waves.”