She sits at the end of a very long dock on the very last pier jutting out into Miami's sparkling Biscayne Bay. To reach her, you must pass dozens of steroid-inspired yachts, slick cruisers and well-heeled fishing boats at the marina hosting the Miami International Boat Show.
This vessel looks more suited for spaceflight than sea journeys. Ironic because she soon will embark on the longest ocean voyage possible, circumnavigating the globe. Two arcing outer hulls, shaped like frog legs, tower over the main cabin which sports a second stubbier pair of wings that would look perfectly at home on a robotic dragonfly. Inside she is a cocoon of black: non-reflective, sound-suppressing unadorned carbon, an extremely expensive but light-weight option for hull construction. The deck floor is made of hemp.
Like many of the fetching vessels sharing the bay, this ship runs on twin diesel engines, but her fuel comes from plant fiber and animal fat. Pretty much any biological matter will work, actually. When the engines burn, the air smells like french fries, not petroleum. Unlike her showcase contemporaries, this boat is not for sale, and no more are in production. She is unique, a party-pooper among the celebrants of materialism that surround her. She is Earthrace, the manifestation of an idea spawned by a former oil industry engineer who decided that it was not enough to just talk about doing something for the environment.
Pete Bethune wouldn't describe himself as an activist. To be honest, if he knew how hard it was going to be to launch this project, how deeply in debt he would go and how disturbing the long hours away from home would be to his marriage and family life, he is not sure he would do it again.
But, the 41-year-old New Zealander is more determined than ever to see how far Earthrace will go. The goal is to make it around the world roughly 10 days quicker than the 74 days, 23 hours and 52 minutes it took a boat named Cable & Wireless to circumnavigate the globe in 1998. "All we can do is our best. If we get the record, great," Bethune says.
Bethune is not really even a boat person. His longest cruise was the two-week crossing of the Pacific from New Zealand to Vancouver in July 2006 to begin a publicity sweep for Earthrace in North America.
Bethune's idea evolved in 2002 when he wrote a 20,000-word research paper to complete his master's degree. He chose to research alternative fuels. Before long, he quit his job, mortgaged his house and began researching wave-slicing boat designs with the intention of building a biodiesel-powered race boat as a way to raise consciousness about renewable energy.
Bethune says, "The way we consume is appalling. And Americans are the worst. This is about sustainability. We shouldn't be depriving future generations of resources just so we have new stuff all the time."
Bethune is concerned future generations will look back at the exploitation of oil and other non-renewable resources the same way we evaluate slavery, the disenfranchisement of women and other outdated notions of acceptable social behavior. "We will be judged harshly," Bethune warns.
On the boat, Bethune explains the markings on the ship's hull. There is a symbol of the taiaha, a Maori war weapon, painted on the bow, signifying strength, power and speed; octopus tentacles "to keep us grounded," Bethune quips, and horns, symbolizing the environment and the positive or negative effect our actions can have on it.
"There are many ways in your life you can reduce your environmental impact," says Bethune. "The green movement is perceived as anti-fun. We hope to show that to be green, you don’t have to curl up and die."
Though he is almost $250,000 short of the estimated $3 million needed to complete his journey, Bethune feels momentum is on his side. Stay tuned to TURBO, as we follow Earthrace around the globe. The race begins from Barbados on March 6, 2007! Check back daily for updates from the crew.
