A Russian adventurer plans to become the first person to cruise solo across the Pacific on a solar-powered catamaran, starting in December. The 9,000-mile trip will take about three months.
Fedor Konyukhov, a Russian priest and balloonist, is no stranger to long ocean voyages. He has completed four circumnavigations and was the first person to row solo across the Southern Ocean, from New Zealand to Chile. Now he will be on NOVA, a 36-foot-long cat with a 23-foot beam, going from Chile to Australia.
NOVA has two electric motors powered by 710 square feet of solar cells on the deck and another 130 square feet of cells on each hull side. They will provide a solar capacity of 11kW, giving the cat a cruising speed of 5 to 7 knots. The cells were designed by Russia’s Hevel Group to resist salt water and UV radiation.
Designed by Phil Morrison, the British racer and engineer, NOVA has a hull of carbon fiber composites; it displaces just 4,400 pounds.
Konyukhov will start his epic voyage in Valparaiso, Chile, cruise down the coast of South America toward Lima, Peru, and then across the Pacific through French Polynesia to Brisbane, Australia. The solar panels will power the electric motors as well as provide fresh water from the cat’s desalination system. Read more:
https://www.hevelsolar.com/en/about/news/fedor-konyukhov/
