Solar-powered Catamaran Completes Record-setting circumnavigation

Solar-powered Catamaran Completes Record-setting circumnavigation Turanor PlanetSolar, a futuristic-looking 100-foot catamaran, on Friday became the first vessel to have circumnavigated the planet exclusively on power generated by the sun. But the memories of this incredible odyssey will not soon be forgotten. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and means "power of the sun. It became clear that the project might succeed last spring as the vessel was crossing the Pacific, when it eclipsed the solar-vehicle record of 9,639 miles, accomplished in 2004 by the Midnight Sun Solar Race Car Team on its tour across North America. After disembarking in Monaco, expedition leader Raphael Domjan told well-wishers: "We are extremely happy to have achieved this first world tour with solar energy. The name Turanor is from J. "It seems that two tuna have been following us the last days," he wrote. The boat, which was built in Germany for about $10 million, is 25 feet high and has a 50-foot beam (width), and wave-piercing pontoons. For these adventurers, the culmination of such a long adventure -- which began on Sept. We have shown that we have the technologies as well as the expertise to become sustainable and safeguard our blue planet. " On warm nights the crew slept beneath stars atop the vessel's solar panels. PlanetSolar's crew consisted of Switzerland's Domjan, an ambulance driver and high-mountain rescue guide; French captains Erwann Le Rouzic and Patrick Marchesseau; German Bosun Jens Langwasser, and Swiss energy-management specialist Christian Ochsenbein. Immo Stroeher, a German solar energy pioneer and the chief investor in the PlanetSolar project, described the vessel as an ambassador of solar energy and added: "The arrival in Monaco is only the start. At the time the crew had exhausted its supply of bread, fruit and fresh vegetables, and Domjan blogged about plans for a fresh fish dinner, which did not turn out as hoped. Records include: Longest journey by a solar-powered boat (31,484 miles; not including side trips made by Turanor PlanetSolar); first circumnavigation by a solar-powered boat; fastest crossing of South China Sea by solar power; fastest crossing of the Atlantic by solar power; and largest solar-powered boat. But these two magnificent fish are not silly and prefer to continue hunting the flying fish all around us. Solar-powered Catamaran Completes Record-setting circumnavigation Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 07/05/2012