When you think of Sea Shepherd’s vessels, the classic “giant” variety comes to mind — something Captain Paul Watson has bemoaned limits their efforts to quickly intercept whaling vessels. Now imagine a sleek, biodiesel-fueled powerboat sporting the Sea Shepherd black and slicing through the water at over 40 knots. Such is the vision owner/skipper Pete Bethune has for his Earthrace 78 foot trimaran. After completing a round-the-world journey with a volunteer crew in 2008 in 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes (slashing the previous record for a powerboat by two weeks!) he’s now putting the boat up for sale — but would love to see it in the hands of the Sea Shepherd defending whales around Antarctica. From the article,

Earthrace could have a new future as a secret strike weapon against Japanese whalers in the Southern Oceans if the Kiwi skipper has his way. Bethune says he is negotiating with anti-whaling campaigner Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to use Earthrace as a ‘strike vessel’ based around its sturdy but slow ship Steve Irwin. ‘The Steve Irwin can only do 16 knots [30kmh], so they can hassle the whalers for a while, and then they move on. If you had Earthrace, you could hassle them all the time.’

Bethune has listed the Earthrace for $1.5 million — but we imagine there might be some wiggle room for a group like Sea Shepherd. Either way, you’ve got to imagine the Japanese are less than thrilled. You can check out more on the sleek boat here.

Get Ecorazzi in your inbox, once a week:

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →