At the end of April, the biodiesel-powered Earthrace boat left Spain on its second attempt to set a record for round-the-world sailing using biofuel. The Atlantic crossing did present a few difficulties, with a toilet backing up, a small pool of biodiesel flooding the sleeping quarters and high waves making for slow going. Still, the boat should now be in Puerto Rico, according to the New Zealand Herald and had traveled 6651 km as of noon Monday. It's speed heading into San Juan was 43 km/hour and the average so far was 37 km/hour. Once the boat takes on more biodiesel in Puerto Rico, the next leg of the journey is 1857 km to Panama and then through the Panama Canal and on to the Pacific. So far, the team's target record is still very achievable.


[Source: New Zealand Herald]

The first Earthrace attempt ended in defeat back in April. The idea was to circle the globe on a biodiesel-powered boat, but there were just too many problems (and one deadly accident). But, the idea - and boat - are just too cool to be sent into history without a second chance, so the New Zealand team will try again in 2008, trying to beat the circumnavigation record of 74 days, 20 hours and 58 minutes. And, with a little special help from the captain, the second time just might be the charm.

The plan is to set sail from from Valencia, Spain at the beginning of March and "traverse the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans as well as the Panama and Suez canals in its more-than-24,000-nautical-mile journey," according to Fox News. That's similar to the plan from last time. What's new? How about a little bit of fat taken from the captain and turned into biodiesel? The Fox article says:

He [Pete Bethune] also made a symbolic gesture towards the project, undergoing liposuction with two other volunteers, which produced 10 liters - a bit more than 2 1/2 gallons - of human fat, enough to power the boat for 8 nautical miles.

That'll help. For the entire carbon-neutral trip, the Earthrace will need 165,000 liters of biodiesel. Anyone want to donate?

[Source: Fox News via Domestic Fuel]