World's largest solar powered yacht breaks two world records

Turanor, the 31 meter yacht resembling the Starship Enterprise has completed almost 250 days at sea, making half way around the globe to the shores of Brisbane, Australia, propelled by nothing but rays from the sun. It is the world's largest solar powered boat and the first fully solar-powered vessel to circumnavigate the world.

This 60-ton vessel, which is dotted with over 536 square meters of photovoltaic panels, can sail for up to five nights without direct sunlight, supported by reserves stored in the world's largest rechargeable lithium battery. In the entire tour battery never dipped down 20% and the crew is very happy with the performance of the boat.

The $16 million vessel is a catamaran, a type of craft with two hulls, which saves energy by slicing rather than riding the waves. But despite its streamline design, the shark-shaped ship travels at an average speed of just 7.5 knots about that of a large ocean liner.

Talking about the experience they had on the trip, the crew constantly monitored weather forecasts to keep in line with the sun, plotting our route, examining wind, wave and current predictions, communicating with other vessels on the satellite phone, updating our blog and logging our positions.

The name Turanor has been taken from J.R.R. Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy which means "power of the sun". The yacht has already broken two world records. One being the fastest ever crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by a solar boat and the longest distance ever covered by a solar electric vehicle.