“Earthrace” trimaran breaks round-the-world record with Trelleborg Industrial AVS engine mounts
“Earthrace”, New Zealand’s 78ft wave-piercing trimaran, has broken the worldrecord for circumnavigating the globe, covering a distance of 24,000 nautical miles in a time of 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes, and beating the previous record by around 14 days.
Running exclusively on 100% biodiesel, “Earthrace” has a net zero carbon footprint and the record attempt was designed to demonstrate the efficiency of, and draw attention to the potential for, alternative fuel sources.It is powered by two Cummins MerCruiser Diesel QSC8.3-540 diesels, each mounted on four Metalastik® Cushyfloat® HT™ high-performance elastomeric engine mounts.Trelleborg Industrial AVS designed and donated a new engine mounting system to cope with the massive forces encountered during the voyage.
Starting from Valencia, Spain, “Earthrace” travelled via the Azores, Puerto Rico, Panama Canal, Manzanillo, San Diego, Hawaii, Marshall Islands, Palau, Singapore, Kochi, Salalah and the Suez Canal, crossing the finishing line in Sagunto on 27 June at 13.24 GMT.The previous world speed record of 75 days was set by Cable and Wireless Adventurer (GB) in 1998.
Trelleborg Industrial AVS was asked to design a new mounting system because the the one originally provided by another manufacturer proved inadequate during the course of last year’s initial record attempt, which had to be abandoned due to extreme weather in the Mediterranean.The solution proposed by Trelleborg Industrial AVS was a conventional four-point mounting system based on the new Metalastik® HT™ (High Thrust) Cushyfloat®, which has been specifically designed for higher thrust loading and higher torque output of modern marine engines.
The rubber element of the Metalastik® HT™ Cushyfloat® is precisely configured to combine a relatively high degree of flexibility in the vertical and lateral modes, together with good longitudinal stiffness fore and aft.This means excellent vibration isolation properties with minimum movement under thrust forces.
Metalastik® HT™ Cushyfloat® incorporates bump and rebound control features to limit excessive movement under shock and a corrosion-resistant metal cover to protect the rubber against oil contamination.Trelleborg Industrial AVS offers the Metalastik® HT™ Cushyfloat® in two basic designs and a variety of rubber compounds to accommodate loads from 85 to 900 kg.
“Earthrace” is a not-for-profit project led by skipper Pete Bethune (NZ) and with volunteers providing the crew and back-up.The boat itself was designed and built in New Zealand by Calibre Boats, using carbon/kevlar composites.It has a maximum speed of 40 knots, can carry 3,000 gallons (11,500 litres) of fuel and has a range of 14,000 nm at 6 knots.It is designed to take up to 24ft (7metres) of water on top of the windscreen and the wave piercing is controlledby pumping up to 2.5 tons of water into a special ballast tank in the bow.The more water in the bow and the faster the boat is travelling, the more effectively it pierces the waves.