‘Racing round the world for a better planet’. That’s the slogan they are using for Earthrace, the attempt by powerboater Peter Bethune to break the round the world powerboat record. It is currently held by Cable & Wireless (remember her from 1998?) and stands at 75 days.

I don’t see how a Kevlar/carbon twin-engined powerboat can possibly be green, let alone motor for 24,000 miles to improve our planet. And another thing: Earthrace is hoping to get round in 65 days, which would be a whopping two weeks slower than Orange 2’s record circumnavigation under sail. Go figure the point of that.

Anyway, this is a 78ft wave-piercing design with twin 540hp Cummins MerCruiser diesel engines running on biofuel. The project is aiming to raise awareness of the practicalities of running on greener fuels. Which, incidentally, is another thing I don’t get because one of the challenges of this project has been arranging to get biofuel at remote stops such as the Maldives and Aden.