Marine

Earthrace has illegal fishing operations in its sights with slick new trimaran

Earthrace has illegal fishing operations in its sights with slick new trimaran
The Earthrace 2 will, all things being equal, start construction in January 2017
The Earthrace 2 will, all things being equal, start construction in January 2017
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The original Earthrace boat launched in 2006
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The original Earthrace boat launched in 2006
The original Earthrace boat was destroyed in 2010
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The original Earthrace boat was destroyed in 2010
Earthrace was destroyed after a collision with a whaling vessel
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Earthrace was destroyed after a collision with a whaling vessel
Earthrace 2 will be able to carry out long-range, open ocean missions
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Earthrace 2 will be able to carry out long-range, open ocean missions
The trimaran design is designed to cut through the waves at high speed
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The trimaran design is designed to cut through the waves at high speed
The trimaran will be able to run for 28 days at a time
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The trimaran will be able to run for 28 days at a time
The team is seeking Kickstarter funding for final design refinements
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The team is seeking Kickstarter funding for final design refinements
The Earthrace 2 will, all things being equal, start construction in January 2017
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The Earthrace 2 will, all things being equal, start construction in January 2017
The boat looks menacing
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The boat looks menacing
View gallery - 9 images

Earthrace has been criss-crossing the globe on the lookout for illegal fishing and hunting operations since 2006. The original Earthrace boat was launched in 2006, and set a world record for round the world powerboat travel before it was destroyed in a collision with a Japanese whaling ship in 2010. Now, the team is trying to create a new trimaran capable of assisting law enforcement on long-range, open-water missions.

Earthrace 2 is based on the original Earthrace and, like its predecessor, will run on renewable fuel but sport a Skysail Kite System for auxiliary power. When (or if) it sees the light of day, the new boat will serve as an operations base for the team's missions battling wildlife crime around the world. Loaded up with a crew of 26, the larger vessel would support 28 day missions with a cruising range of 10,000 nautical miles (11,508 mi/18,520 km) at 12 knots (14 mph/22 km/h).

If it comes time to get into hot-pursuit mode, the 195-ft (60-m) boat could be pushed up to around 25 knots (29 mph/46 km/h). Alternatively, a 29-ft (9-m) Sealegs Amphibious Vessel and a Zodiac Dinghy would be hidden away within the hull, ready to be deployed if the team needs to board other boats on a mission.

The original Earthrace boat launched in 2006
The original Earthrace boat launched in 2006

"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," says Captain Pete Bethune. "This new vessel will be used in blue water patrols, mostly assisting local units to catch poachers."

The Earthrace team is currently running a Kickstarter campaign, attempting to raise US$50,000 to complete the designs for a new trimaran, which are being handled by LOMOcean design. According to the team behind it, the sandwich-composite vessel's design will make it super efficient, but also able to maintain a stable, fast pace through rough seas.

With four days remaining, the crowdfunding campaign has passed its goal by more than $3,000. Pledges range from $8, which gets your name on the side of the boat, to $9,900 for a 24-hour luxury voyage with 10 guests on board.

Should the project get off the ground, construction is expected to start in January 2017. If it's completed, Earthrace plans to use the boat for conservation missions for eight months a year, and running it on awareness tours for the rest of the time.

Earthrace's Kickstarter pitch video is below.

Source: Earthrace

Earthrace-2 Conservation Vessel

View gallery - 9 images
10 comments
10 comments
Timelord
Gizmag never followed up their story about the sinking of the Ady Gil that Sea Shepherd was found guilty of scuttling their own ship to get sympathy for their cause. The collision hadn't damaged it enough to sink it. It wasn't cut in half as Gizmag reported. While their mission is worthy, that action was a severe blow to their credibility. Although personally, I think they should have bought the Sea Slice for the $180,000 asking price last year since this new ship will cost at least 10x as much. That had enough space for over 100 personnel and lots of supplies & equipment plus proven seaworthiness in rough seas, so they could have run continuous missions of months or maybe even over a year rather than just four weeks. http://www.gizmag.com/lockheed-martin-sea-slice-swathboat/35854/
jerryd
Looks like another scam to me. Why such a big boat when a 60' one would do the same job at a fraction of the price? Plus flying a kit sail could easily flip is over as designed. PS, I design and build fast Cruising multihull for a living
LivePool
Why not invest in tracking and observational equipment that can be loaded into hundreds of drones (rather than one boat) ? In fact, why not post to social media sites and YouTube to build awareness through crowdsourcing and prevention / intervention through local authorities. Sinking all that money into a boat seems like a 1970's solution for a 2016 problem.
ljaques
"We only need $50k more for DESIGN FEES" for what looks like a multi-million dollar boat? It looks like someone is wanting a nicer vessel to sail the seas. OK, their goals are worthy, but puhleeze. Some of these ecoNazis just got dinged several million dollars to pay back whalers for their mischief. That money didn't go to save whales, stop illegal fishing, or anything else. It was thrown away. I won't even mention GreenPeace.
Plus, a large diesel driven ship is going to cost lots of money ($25k+ per month?) to fuel and crew in order to putt around those seven seas.
This is not the answer, folks.
LivePool has the right idea when he mentions crowdsourcing and drones. I'll add "solar planes with live cams" to the mix, and it will be a helluva lot less expensive, while giving them far more coverage in multiple countries/oceans simultaneously. Video feeds can be used in court.
Let's keep it peaceful, proper, smart, and legal, OK?
RelayerM31
And what exactly are they going to do when they find someone fishing illegally? Board the ship and beat everybody up superhero style? This idea needs a mercy sinking.
FactChecker90803
I do so hope that Earthrace knows or has been advices by there legal team (that if they have one), that bording a Flagged Vessel in open or international waters is an act of PIRACY unless the bording party is a FLAGGED Law Enforcement Agency Or a Flagged Naval Force. Any other party or group can be treated as a hostile borders and Force even Lethal Force can be used to repell such borders, or they may be taking into custody and held till a Law Enforcement Agency can take custody of them.
rubytuesday
From my understanding this guy trashed the last much smaller boat that people donated to him to race around the world. My partner and I got to go on board years ago and the inside was trashed and smelled like puke. We both thought how terrible it was. Why would he now want this monster? And why would anyone donate any money if they knew what the last one ended up like. What a complete waste of money. If they cant scrape up enough for even the plans I would think this nonsense is doomed.
Wolf0579
Doesn't look like it could take much of a "bump" from a Chinese "Coast Guard" cutter, or one of the Japanese "Reasearch" commercial whaling vessels. In fact, it looks like it would fold up and sink.
ljaques
So, they found 690 true believers to commit $82,367 for designs of this multi million dollar waste of activist money. Un Freakin' Believable!
JoshuaFallaw
'a Zodiac Dinghy would be hidden away within the hull, ready to be deployed if the team needs to board other boats on a mission.'
So, they're pirates?