Earthrace - the last run on its 2007 record attempt (Part 1)

There was a lot of press coverage lately on the Earthrace attempt to break the world record of circumnavigation for power boats with a bio-diesel boat.

It happens to be that we have (together with another company) sponsored their last leg on their attempt to break the world record. And we have just learn that Richard Branson now is considering to sponsor another attempt for the world record next year, so we thought we might still share some of our impressions and images of our time on-board during the run from Egypt to Spain (Richard, if you want more insides on being a sponsor for that boat, contact us here at this site…)

We will take a neutral stand here and share mostly some of our images taken during this journey. We nevertheless would like to start with thanking the authorities in Egypt who have made the impossible possible (see below : a record run through the Suez Canal) and wish the crew good luck if they succeed with another attempt next year.

But first things first. How did we get on that “thing”?

Well we were following their run for quite some time online and after we’ve seen that they are still looking for sponsors for the leg from Egypt to Spain we decided one night to shell out the money and contacted them. A few days later we got their ok - and with a few further delays (the boat got hold up in India) we were off to Egypt to get aboard.

Part 1: To Egypt and onto the Earthrace boat

Click on the images below to enlarge

Thanks again to the Egyptian sponsor (Hi, Philippe how are you?) who help us with our accommodation, transport and everything else. He arrange our stay in Cairo - as shown in these two images - in one of their best hotels. And for a (very) reasonable price too.



We learned that he also helped to sort out many “bureaucratic obstacles” for the boat so that a smooth and quick ride through the canal became possible…

So after a day in Cairo we were off to meet the boat in Port Suez. It arrived in the evening…

…dwarfed by the tankers and other vessels on their way through the Suez Canal…

…the “strange” objects on the stern are spare tanks for diesel…

Almost immediately after mooring engineers from Cummings came aboard to do maintenance on the engines. All of them got wet from falling into the water while balancing parts to and from the boat over a wooden plank…

We now had a chance for a first look inside the boat. We knew it’s going to be tight…

…our new home for the next 5 days (and nights)…

Next: Through the Suez Canal in record time and off to Malaga

Note: we have not yet “photoshopped” the images so at least some of them look a bit “raw”…