Marine

Sea Shepherd recruits global record holding trimaran Ady Gil

Sea Shepherd recruits global record holding trimaran Ady Gil
Capable of 50 knot speeds, the 24m tri-hull Ady Gil will fight whaling in the Antarctic ocean
Capable of 50 knot speeds, the 24m tri-hull Ady Gil will fight whaling in the Antarctic ocean
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Capable of 50 knot speeds, the 24m tri-hull Ady Gil will fight whaling in the Antarctic ocean
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Capable of 50 knot speeds, the 24m tri-hull Ady Gil will fight whaling in the Antarctic ocean
1080hp Cummins Mercruiser engine
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1080hp Cummins Mercruiser engine
The Ady Gil (Earthrace) is preparing to tackle the southern ocean
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The Ady Gil (Earthrace) is preparing to tackle the southern ocean
The pilots seat on the Ady Gil
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The pilots seat on the Ady Gil
The radical trimaran can pierce through hughe waves
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The radical trimaran can pierce through hughe waves
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International environmental organization Sea Shepherd is about to embark on another mission to prevent whaling in the Antarctic Ocean. Only this time they’ll have a distinct speed advantage in the form of the Ady Gil: a radically designed, lightning-fast trimaran that holds the world record for global circumnavigation.

The Ady Gil, formerly known as Earthrace, is a 24m tri-hull wave piercer with a 1080hp Cummins Mercruiser engine that can tackle waves of up to 15m and submarine up to 7m underwater. The range of the vessel is outstanding, but of course depends on speed. At 6 knots she can travel 24,000 kilometers on only one tank of biodiesel. That equates to more than halfway around the globe.

Designed to achieve the global circumnavigation record, the futuristic and unusual appearance of the vessel is not just for show. The narrow hulls and flowing lines allow for her to pass through waves, rather than riding over them like a standard ship. This capability was critical too, because whether the sea is flat or rough, the vessel will run continuously.

Earthrace completed the 23,497 nautical mile global circumnavigation in 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes back in 2008, and this record has recently been officially recognized by the Union International Motonautique (UIM).

One of the standout design features of the Ady Gil is the "horns". These horns are actually air ducts that suck the cool air down through the lower channel and expel the hot air from the engine at the top, all while running by convection. If the ducts are submerged at sea, the water will be ducted automatically out the sides.

The vessel is capable of speeds of up to 50 knots, a significant advantage when compared to the Sea Shepherd vessel’s capabilities of only around 17 knots.

Apart from running on B100 biodiesel - a sustainable fuel made from canola and soya bean that is 95% biodegradable within 30 days if spilled in a waterway - the Ady Gil boasts numerous other eco-friendly elements. Parts of the vessel are made from hemp composite, lubricants are made from vegetable oils, bilge water is filtered to remove oil or hydrocarbon and waste is recycled wherever possible. As you might expect from an eco-boat, Earthrace is also billed as carbon neutral, with CO2 emissions balanced by the purchase of carbon credits.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is best known for their confrontational tactics to prevent Japanese whaling in the Antarctic ocean. The Ady Gil will join Sea Shepherd’s flagship Steve Irwin in December to begin the campaign.

Earthrace founder, New Zealander Pete Bethune, says half a tonne of Kevlar will be added to the vessel to toughen it against the ice.

"This is happening in my backyard and it really pisses me off. I'm going to make a stand alongside Sea Shepherd – the whaling fleet will find it hard to get away from us," said Bethune.

Via Sea Shepherd, Earthrace.

View gallery - 5 images
21 comments
21 comments
Sam Munro
GIVE THEM HELL!!
Simon Drozdowski
Nail those suckers!
Facebook User
Good to see more and more people giving a damn! I don think that the speed advantage of this both will be of much help however, since there is no helipad and not so much space for other stuff those guys use. But than again I could be wrong, who knows.
David Mahan
I\'\'m not a tree hugging, cap and tax kind of guy, but i makes me really mad that the Japanese are still whaling MORE POWER TO THEM!!!!!!!!!!!
John Wassner
at last, they\'re giving the whalers a run for their money!
Aaron McKellar
I have loved the whale since I was young. Give them hell Capt.paul and crew woot woot! I would be on that sea shephard in a momment if I was asked!!! Aaron
Mr Stiffy
But everyone misses the point:
\"Whales like to be harpooned, because they want to be eaten\".
You know, it\'s the circle of life thing.
The sun which is god sends love energy into the world in the form of light, the alge and the plankton grow on this, and then they decide to give it up to glorify jesus, and they choose to be eaten by krill and fish.
The krill and the fish grow on this, and then they decide to give it up to glorify jesus, and they choose to be eaten by whales. The whales grow on this, and then they decide to give it up to glorify jesus, and they choose to be harpooned and eaten by people in Japan.
The real issue is that the people in Japan don\'t follow jesus and the holy scriptures.
God tells us in Exodus 34:12-13: \'Do not make any treaties with the people of the country into which you are going ... Instead, tear down their altars, destroy their sacred pillars, and cut down the symbols of their goddess Asherah\'.
God tells us in Deuteronomy 12:2-3 : \'In the land that you are taking, destroy all the places where the people worship their gods on high mountains, on hills, and under green trees. Tear down their altars and smash their sacred stone pillars to pieces. Burn their symbols of the goddess Asherah and chop down their idols, so that they will never again be worshipped at those places.
So the people in Sea Shepherd, if they were real christians, they would invade Japan and set fire to all their temples - after killing them all.
And then the Sea Shepherd people could hunt and kill the whales for the remaining christian people in Japan, to help them understand that when a whale chooses to give it up for jesus, they are wanting us to eat them so that as god given rulers of the earth, we can magnify and glorify god ourselves.
And when all the whales have gone back to heaven, then we can harvest all the krill - in the name of jesus.
Da5o
Have I missed something? Unless the particular type of whale is a threatened specie, what\'s the problem with killing and eating them? Why are they so different from cows, sheep etc? They were overfished in the past, but that was then. Please, some consistency and logic here.
FoFu
@Da5o
You\'re not just missing something... you\'re missing everything.
Consistency and logic? How would you ever notice it?
James Sereda
The Japanese whaling fleet are whaling outside of their borders and into the Antarctic whale sanctuary. They have been known to hunt endangered species because they gain a larger profit for these species.
They have previously included the Australian humpback whale in their quota for “research” purposes.
They stand by this ridiculous claim but the meat ends up in the Japanese fish market with a high percentage of people not actually knowing it is whale meat.
The Ady Gil is a welcome addition to the Sea Shepherd fleet because of its speed capabilities. The hardest part of the mission for Sea Shepherd is to locate the Japanese fleet. With both Ady Gil and the helicopter on the Steve Irwin the Sea Shepherd’s should be able to find them and stop the killing.
Stop the slaughter.
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