All eyes are on the stop-start Louis Vuitton sailing action in Valencia at the moment, but the epic Earthrace round the world record attempt may turn out to provide much more excitement, all up.The Kiwi effort to get around the world in 75 days or less looked shaky as the boat, which is powered by bio-diesel, was caught up in a fatal collision with a fishing boat off Guatemala, then had mechanical problems on the leg out from San Diego. Earthrace, according to its website, is still 2900 miles behind schedule, but has made up over a thousand miles in its race west across the Pacific.
The crew have cut land stops to a minimum, simply picking up fuel and supplies and heading on. They'll only touch land a handful of times between Singapore and the Bahamas in their attempt to beat the record set by the Cable & Wireless boat in 1998.
It would be fantastic for Earthrace to dock in the Bahamas having beaten the record, especially given the problems they've faced. It's probably still a long shot and there's no room for error, but here's hoping...
Check out the blog updates at www.earthrace.net
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