FASTEST
EVER AROUND-THE WORLD VOYAGE ATTEMPT TOUCHES INDIA
Dated
26th April, 2002 - Mangalore
Spirit-of-Cardiff,
a small, high-speed powerboat from United Kingdom, manned by a four-man
crew, has today reached Mangalore.
This 10mt long boat is on an attempt to set a new world record
for the fastest ever circumnavigation of the globe by sea.
Alan Priddy, one of the world’s most experienced endurance
powerboat skippers, leads the very experienced crew comprising of Steve
Lloyd, Clive Tully and Alan Carter.
Having set out on this voyage from Gibraltar on the 7th of April,
2002, Spirit-of-Cardiff's route has so far taken her down the
Mediterranean to the Suez Canal, through the Red Sea and touching the
ports of Malta, Port Said (Egypt), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Aden (Yemen)
and Salalah (Oman). SOC
left Salalah on 22nd April, 02 and her entry into Mangalore Port waters
was logged in today at 02-34 hrs IST by the official time-keeper of SOC
at Mangalore, Yashwanth Kangen - owner of Maha Mysore Boats.
The distance of 1250 miles (2000 kms) between Salalah and
Mangalore has been covered in 3 days 13 hours and 4 minutes.
This in itself is a new world record for the fastest voyage time
between the ports of Salalah and Mangalore.
This run is also a new world record for the longest ever
unsupported ocean crossing by a RIB (the Rigid Inflatable Bottom kind of
boat).
During
the initial planning by the SOC crew it was both Mumbai and
Thiruvananthapuram ports that SOC was to touch in India.
However, Mangalore was finally chosen as the only port of contact
in India after Alan Priddy got in touch with Yashwanth Kangen and found
that everything he required for a service halt could be arranged by
Yashwanth in Mangalore. Over
nine months of e-mail interaction between Alan and Yashwanth have gone
into planning out the nitty gritty of this service halt.
SOC
departed Mangalore at 12-37 hrs IST today heading down south after
attending to engine maintenance and taking on fuel and provisions. After rounding Srilanka, SOC continues on her route to
Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, then across the Pacific via Russia and
Alaska. The USA is followed
by Mexico, Guatemala and the Panama Canal.
From there the final part of the route runs from Jamaica up the
Eastern USA to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, then on to the Azores
before returning to Gibraltar - where she is expected sometime before
the middle of June 2002.
The
current record for the fastest voyage around the world is held by Cable
& Wireless Adventurer and stands at 75 days.
You can keep track of Spirit-of-Cardiff's progress during the
coming days by visiting the website:www.spirit-of-cardiff.com
The
above is a news report from the Times of India of 29th April,
2002. The Sunday Express, other leading dailies and regional
television channels too have
carried the news.