#0501 24m Earthrace Trimaran

 

History was made on 27 June 2008 – the wave piercing trimaran Earthrace (more recently known as Ady Gil) designed and engineered by LOMOcean took out the UIM world record for a power boat circumnavigation by over 13 days.

 

Earthrace (later Ady Gil) was powered by twin Cummins QSC 540 diesel engines and propellers pitched specifically for the record attempt. With this configuration and fully fuelled and provisioned, the boat motors at a maximum speed of around 28 knots, although it could be configured to go faster with lighter fuel loads. At slower passage making speeds, the boat has sufficient range for large stretches of open ocean involving up to 2500 nautical miles between refuelling stops – the slender central hull and tuned sponsors offering excellent fuel efficiency.

Construction of the craft was in keeping with its styling and pedigree; advanced composites included carbon fibre and aramid reinforcements, toughened epoxy resins and lightweight foam cores.

 

As a part of an ongoing research and development program into this relatively novel hull type, the Earthrace project had the LOMOcean Design team working hard on optimizing fuel efficiency to minimize re-fuelling stops and also on designing for ride comfort, allowing the crew to maintain high average speeds in adverse sea conditions.

 

Common to all of the power trimaran design work from this office, the entire boat is intended to wave pierce, minimizing pitching motions and preventing slamming or pounding of the bottom shell. Tests conducted on a 6m manned and powered test model fitted with pitch/heave/yaw accelerometers show significant improvements in ride quality in comparison to conventional monohull designs, representing a major step forward in yacht design technology.