PlanetSolar TURANOR continues underway... update November 24 2010

CONTINUING SAGA OF PLANETSOLAR's 'TURANOR'.... NOTE ADDITION OF SOLAR PANELS HANGING OVER DECKS... APPEARS TO BE A MISCALCULATION OF REQUIRED PANEL SURFACE TO ACHIEVE ENOUGH POWER - YOU WOULD NOT NORMALLY PLACE OVERHANGING ELECTRICAL AT RISK OF SEA DAMAGE (REMEMBER THIS IS A ONE-OFF CUSTOM DESIGN FROM SCRATCH - NOT AN EXISTING VESSEL MODIFICATION)... ALSO NOTE THAT THE PROPELLER IS POSITIONED FLAT AGAINST A BULKHEAD AND UNABLE TO DUCT CLEAN UNDISTURBED SEAWATER INTO PROP - NOTE EXTREME DISTURBED WATER FROM PROPELLERS IN PICTURES BELOW (OOPS... LOST ENERGY CONVERTED TO MECHANICAL NOISE)... AND THE LIST OF TECHNICAL QUESTIONS GOES ON AND ON... I HAVE SENT EMAILS ASKING FOR CLARIFICATIONS BUT WITHOUT ANY REPLIES FROM THE OWNERS OR THE WEBMASTER... WHICH LEAVES YOU TO THINK THEY ARE EMBARRASSED BY SUCH BASIC MARINE ENGINEERING OVERSIGHTS AS TO NOT REPLY... OR DO THEY REALY CARE AT ALL?  MAYBE BOTH?

WISHING YOU A SAFE TRIP - BON VOYAGE !

THE FIRST SOLAR SAILING EXPEDITION AROUND THE WORLD

The TÛRANOR^* PlanetSolar is a pioneer in renewable energy technology used for marine navigation.Not something like this has been achieved in the field of mobility to this day. This solar-powered catamaran uses advanced technologies available on the market. The intention is to demonstrate that through innovative use of materials and technologies available, performance of high rank can be achieved today.

CHALLENGES

• The Energy Management: Moving should not use more energy than that provided by the sun.
• Efficiency: The motorized and solar is efficient only if the costs are reasonable and competitive.Therefore, we mainly use materials and technologies available today that creates a potential for mass production, thus considerably reducing the cost and operational costs over time.

^* The name means TÛRANOR "The power of the sun." This name comes from the saga of Lord JJR Tolkien "The Lord of the Rings."

Dear Friends PlanetSolar,

Here about a month since we left Las Palmas. We traveled over 3,000 miles (6,000 km) across the Atlantic. When we get to Miami we walked the first 10,000 miles that first sail around the world with solar energy.

The team Thalassa who followed us for several days has carried a story about the adventure "PlanetSolar. It will air this Friday, November 26 on the television channel France 3 at 20:30. Do not miss this excellent documentary that tells the incredible story of this adventure solar.

If the start of the Atlantic crossing happened in good weather, the second part was more technical, mostly because of Tropical Storm "Tomas" which décidt rise north-east on our way and disrupted trade winds yet installed. We therefore had to play with adverse winds and sunshine weaker than expected. But what amazing experiences to discover this new kind of navigation, and move closer to the Pacific Ocean.

During this journey, we all had a lot of work between shifts organized for every 4 hours in pairs, the management of navigation, boat maintenance, preparation of meals and rest periods. Time passes relatively quickly on board. Technically the ship works very well. However we had some problems with the desalination system. We will use our next stop to change defective parts. But what is very heartening to note is that the innovations of TÛRANOR PlanetSolar our 536 m² of panels and solar control technology and our electric propulsion system works perfectly.

Our entire team to land more than a dozen people now work in the preparation of our arrival on the American continent. This complex is essential for achieving the goals of our project. demonstrate what is achievable today with renewable energy: to achieve this goal we must reach a wide audience.

Hopefully we only have a few more days of sailing before joining Miami Coast. Incredible moment to review the relief on the horizon, smell the smells of vegetation warmed by the sun. The whole crew is delighted to ask again alighted on the new continent and enjoy being able to walk on land or to eat an ice cream.

Last Thursday, TÛRANOR PlanetSolar made a lightning stop in St. Martin to save the record for crossing the Atlantic on solar power. TÛRANOR covered the distance from Las Palmas to St Martin-in 26 days, 19 hours and 10 minutes (Sun21 in 2007, had set a time of 29 days, 8 hours and 30 minutes).

Join us in the "minute PlanetSolar" to follow the adventures of our last two weeks aboard the largest solar boat in the world.

http://www.planetsolar.org/newsletter-show.fr.php?n=20101124#video


See you soon,
Raphaël Domjan and Patrick Marchesseau


http://www.planetsolar.org/newsletter-show.fr.php?n=20101124#video