Coolest Guy On The Planet

Meet Earthrace – The coolest boat on the Planet

Earthrace is a 24m (78ft) tri-hull wavepiercer that has been designed and built specifically to get the record for a powerboat to circumnavigate the globe. She is an advanced endurance vessel, capable of submarining up to 7m (23ft) underwater as she powers across oceans. One journalist recently reported “Earthrace is like a rally car but for oceans, with her ability to handle rough seas and storm conditions at high speed.” In 2008 Earthrace set a new world record by circumnavigating the world in 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes.

The horns:

There are a many features that stand out on Earthrace. Firstly the distinctive horns. These are actually ducts. Hot air from around the engines is expelled out the top of these, while cool air is sucked through the lower channel and funnelled under the engines. This however is not powered, it runs simply by convection. In big seas (waves over 8m (26ft)) the horns get submerged, however any water ingress is ducted out the sides automatically. Also, because Earthrace is only underwater for a few seconds at a time, the engine bay holds enough air to keep the 1080hp of Cummins Mercruiser engine roaring along.

Hulls:

Another feature about Earthrace is her unusual appearance, especially the extremely narrow hulls and flowing lines. She has this shape to allow her to pass easily through waves, rather than riding over the top like conventional designs.

Range:

The range of Earthrace depends on speed. At 6 knots she can go an incredible 13,000nm (24,000km) on one tank of biodiesel. That’s over half way around the globe! Of course your crew gets grumpy at 6kn when you’re in such a high speed vessel. At 25 knots she has a range of about 2,000nm (3,700km).

Helm:

Much of the Earthrace helm has has been modelled on race cars. In the image here you can move around the earthrace helm using your mouse. The file may take a few minutes to load, but it is really cool. Recent additions to the helm are custom carbon / kevlar racing seats by Corbeau and a custom made pre-preg carbon steering wheel by Reverie.

Wavepiercing:

Wave piercing technology was originally formulated for passenger ferry applications, and more recently it has been applied to military craft.

Wave-piercers have a very fine bow with minimal reserve buoyancy in the forward portions of the hull to minimize vertical motions. When a wave is encountered, the hull pierces through the water rather than riding over the top. The result is a dramatically smoother ride than traditional deep-V designs, minimizing stress on the vessel as well as the crew.

Wave piercing is a key element in getting the record for circumnavigating the globe. It allows the boat to run continuously at high speed in both flat and rough sea conditions.

One of the most eco-friendly boats ever made.

There are many eco-freindly elements to earthrace.

The Following are just some examples:

·Earthrace runs sustainably produced B100 biodiesel ( + more )

·Parts of Earthrace are made from hemp composite, a world first for boats

·The antifoul is a new non-toxic type (most are heavy metal or iso-cyanate based)

·Lubricants are made from vegetable oils

·Bedding foams are made from canola oil

·Bilge water is pumped through special filters to remove any oil or hydrocarbon

Structures:

Earthrace has undergone extensive testing and evaluation to ensure the structures will withstand the loads placed upon her when piercing breaking waves in storm conditions. According to the team at XC Engineering in Italy, the theoretical loads placed upon Earthrace, and especially the spars, are the highest they have ever seen. She has been designed for 15m (50ft) waves, and to go 7m (23ft) underwater with a factor of safety of 3. So at 21m underwater the hull will likely implode. Of course we hope we never get that far underwater. The most rugged conditions the crew have encountrered thus far were 12m (40ft) waves and 80kn winds, which saw the windscreen of Earthrace regularly up to 5m (16ft) underwater. One crew member described the experience as “by far the most brutal thing I’ve done.”

The hull has come through this, and a series of other storms in various oceans and seas, basically unscathed. It is a testament to the many organisations that worked on the initial desaign and subsequent structural analysis (such as Craig Loomes Design Group and Germanishe Lloyd). Earthrace is an amazing boat and she proves this to us every day!

Construction:

Construction of Earthrace commenced in February 2005, and 14 months later she was launched in the Henderson Creek, in Auckland, New Zealand. A total of 14,000 hours of paid labour, plus many more thousands of volunteer hours went into the build.

Construction went some US$500,000 over budget, due mainly to underestimation of the carbon spars, which required $250,000 of carbon each, not to mention the 3,000 hours of labor.

Hundreds of companes from all over the globe have contributed to get Earthrace launched.

Specifications:

·Hull: Wavepiercing Trimaran

·Designer: Craig Loomes Design Group

·Builder: Calibre Boats

·Length: 24m (78ft)

·Beam: 8m (24ft)

·Draft: 1.3m (4ft)

·Range at 6 knots: 13,000nm (24000km)

·Range at 25 knots 2,000 nm (2,700km)

·Maximum speed: 40 knots (75km/h)*

·Fuel: B100 Biodiesel (100%)

·Fuel Capacity: 12,000 liters – 3,000 gallons

·Dry Weight: 14 ton

·Weight fully fuelled: 26 ton

·Construction: Carbon , Kevlar sandwich composites

·Crew: 4

·Beds: 6

·Engines:

2 x QSC – 540 ( Cummins Mercruiser Diesel 540 hp)

·Gearboxes: ZF 305A (ZF)

·Air intakes: top of wings to remain above waves while piercing

·Windscreen: 17mm laminated toughened glass

*Max speed is dependent on fuel load, propellor pitch, and gearbox ratio.

Engines:

Cummins Mercruiser Diesel have supplied the engines for Earthrace. There are two QSC-540 engines producing a combined power output of 1080 horsepower. These engines use common rail technology, a quantum leap forward in terms of both efficiency and emissions, compared with conventional diesel injection.

The engines feature turbochargers with a boost pressure up to 45 psa (3 bar), an intercooler (aftercooler), and they are cooled via a raw water intake. So we suck up sea water, pass this through a heat exchanger, which then cools the coolant in the engines. Earthrace runs a wet exhaust, where our exhaust gases are mixed with waterm before being discharged. Even so, there is a nice throaty howl from these engines as you wind them up to 1080 horsepower.

Each engine has its own 10 micron Racor 75/1000 max fuel filter, plus a secondary 2 micron fuel filter on the engine itself. The engines are totally standard, and we run 100% biodiesel in them.

ZF Marine:

ZF Marine have sponsored the gearboxes for Earthrace. They are the ZF-305A single speed box. These provide us with forward, neutral, and reverse. The gearbox ration is 2.423:1. So for every full turn the propeller makes, the engine has done 2.423 rotations. The engine controls have also been sponsored by ZF. The most visible part of this is the throttles, which can run independently, or the two engines can be linked to provide identical engine speeds.

The prefered docking for Earthrace is stern to. This has the crew and public walking on and off via the transom step. For this we need a dock at least 9m wide (the beam of Earthrace is 8m). Earthrace will protrude 24m away from the dock wall. In most cases we need a floating pontoon. In areas with low tides, such as the Mediteranean, a fixed dock is OK, but if public are to board Earthrace, a floating dock is always preferred.

If a stern dock is not available, a side dock is OK. In this case we fender the sponson (either port or starboard) against the dock. We only need an 8m length to tie against, so most marinas and ports can accomodate this easily. The public walk across a walkway from the sponson to the transom step.

We will always prefer a stern to or side dock, however for refuelling or maintenance operations, where public are not boarding the vessel, tying up against a fixed dock or wall is fine. This is standard in most ports.

Earthrace dimensions:

Earthrace is 24m (78ft) long, 8m (25ft) beam, draft of 1.3m (4ft), and at her highest point she is 4m (13ft) above the water.

Pete Bethune – Skipper

Earthrace is now for sale;

78′ Calibre Boats Earthrace Super Yacht – World Navigator Wave Pirecer

• Year: 2007
• Current Price: US$ 1,499,995 Tax Not Paid
• Located in Auckland, New Zealand

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