Eco-friendly Powerboat?
The team appears to have thought of everything: hemp-composite boat parts; biodegradable and non-toxic antifoulant; bilgewater treatment; eco-friendly lubricants and bedding; even hemp and bamboo crew clothing. But the foremost claim of a biodiesel fueled and carbon neutral circumnavigation by powerboat seems inherently contradictory. Can a record-setting speedboat be billed as an earth-friendly event?

Biodiesel by Liposuction
The derivation of the touted 100% biodiesel is not known, except that it is manufactured in part from fat liposuctioned from the skipper himself, demonstrating that biodiesel can be made from many sources. What is known: the biodiesel must be transported ahead of the racers to each port of call for refueling. The greenhouse gas emissions from that transport, as well as the travels of all earthrace team members, are being neutralized by carbon offsets, playing into the hands of critics who claim offsets are only a salve for the conscience of those unwilling to face the hard realities of cutting back their consumption.

The Skipper's Motivation
In a TH Exclusive interview with Skipper Pete Bethune, TreeHugger put the question of the conflict between powerboats and claims to be environmentally friendly directly to the skipper. Bonnie Alter paraphrases Bethune's response: "Obviously he has thought about this a great deal; he wants to reach a bigger audience. He believes that the public will make changes gradually. If they see cool technology and an amazing boat, they can connect with that. The fact that it is environmental and green is almost secondary initially. Your 'average bloke' is a hard demographic to tap into. To make a comparison with expensive sports cars; the Tesla is flashy and people are attracted to that, then they pick up on the green part."

The Record Attempt
The Earthrace will launch from Sagunto, Spain, at 1300hrs GMT, heading east to the Azores. It is the second attempt on the record. In the first attempt, a tragic accident resulted in the death of a fisherman off of Guatemala. The earthrace crew saved the lives of two other men, and Bethune was completely exonerated by a Guatemalan court. Four other attempts have been made by other teams in the ten years since the current world record (7 minutes short of 75 days) was set.

"For the next 40 days we're going to be living on adrenaline," says Bethune. "We are fully committed to beating the record, and we don't intend to leave anything to chance – the boat is fully geared up and weather conditions are optimum."

You can track the boat's progress at Earthrace.net.