Biofueled boat visits Harbor in search of record

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Powerboats and biofuels are unlikely bedfellows.

But not for Pete Bethune, 41, skipper of Earthrace — a sleek, futuristic powerboat docked at the Inner Harbor this weekend.

“It combines both of my interests,” he said, as curiosity-seekers climbed aboard.

“We can set a world record and promote awareness of alternative fuels,” he said.

And Bethune has put his money where his mouth is, taking out a second mortgage on his New Zealand home and borrowing money to finance the $3 million project. Now his boat, Earthrace, a 78-foot double-hulled craft that runs solely on biodegradable soy-based fuel, will seek to circumnavigate the globe in under 74 days, a record set in 1998.

“Finishing is the key,” he said. “The last five attempts to break the record didn’t.”

Bethune, a former oil exploration engineer, said experience taught him alternative fuels are the key to the future. With the blessing of his wife, he financed the construction of the boat, which is crewed by four and cruises at 25 knots, he said.

Bethune said the boat recently visited Boston and New York and will be making stops in Hilton Head, S.C., and Key West, Fla., next to promote awareness of both the race and the viability of biofuels.

As for his looming March 2007 launch date for his effort to break the world record, he says his biggest worry is the truck-size containers that fall off massive freighters.

“Thousands fall off and sit just below the waterline, so you can’t see them,” he said. “It’s just luck of the draw.”

Earthrace will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the general public today and Sunday. Admission is $5.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

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