60,006 kilometers; crossed oceans; and stopped at dozens of ports around the world. And Friday, having circumnavigated the world, the Turanor PlanetSolar and its crew arrived back in Monaco, where their journey had begun in September 2010.
Shaped like a sleek spaceship, 31 meters, or about 102 feet, long and covered with 537 square meters, or 5,780 square feet, of solar panels, the PlanetSolar is the brainchild of Raphaël Domjan
Years of fundraising, 64,000 hours of construction (30 years worth of labor for a single person) and 585 days to "sail" around the world
ReplyDeleteA sailboat of similar length could have made the journey in 100 days, at a tremendously lower cost, but still been just as luxurious as it probably was inside, if not indeed much more luxurious. Here is one such sailboat for only $250K http://www.macgregor26.com/macgregor70/home/home.html
Agreed, and the "carbon cost" amuses me. The amount of carbon dioxide (likely) made in the production of this thing will probably never be recovered in the life time of the boat and solar panels.
ReplyDeleteStill, I like the idea, and launches are not wind dependant, and programmable.
It would be interesting to see a sail that is capable of collecting solar power. If that was the case, then an electric motor could be used for propulsion regardless of the prevailing winds.
ReplyDeleteThat would be clever. Perhaps some of these newer solar inks applied to the sail.
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