KEY POINTS:
We've all been pretty excited lately about a particular boat race going on in Spain that has some heavy Kiwi involvement.
Well, I've been keeping tabs on another, that of Earthrace, the attempt by Pete Bethune and his largely New Zealand team to break the 75
day sea record for circumnavigating the globe.
Earthrace was hoping to beat the record and power the boat the whole way using bio-diesel, thus promoting the cleaner, alternative fuel source.
Bethune pulled the plug on Earthrace a week ago after the boat was badly damaged in large seas in the Mediterranean.
I wrote a column in last week's Herald on Sunday in which I commended Bethune for carrying on so far despite the series of mishaps Earthrace had suffered.
The most serious of those mishaps was a night-time collision with a fishing boat off the coast of Guatemala that left a fisherman dead.
Bethune, as Earthrace skipper, was cleared of any negligence by a Guatemalan court and the team decided to carry on with the race.
I thought that was the right thing to do, but not everyone agrees, based on the email I've received in response to the story."...this was certainly not ever going to change anything apart from getting into Guinness book of world records and making money for it's owners. The world is very well aware of biofuels and doesn't need a bunch of guys to speed around the world using up even more fuel to make it more aware," wrote Simon.
He adds that Bethune "should be in jail in Guatemala for manslaughter".
Phil wrote to me, saying: "I couldn't see the point of the whole thing, which seemed to be a disaster from beginning to end. If anything, they've hurt the case for bio-fuel."
I'm a big fan of epic races, two of my favourite novels are Around the World in Eighty Days and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, both by French writer Jules Verne. There's a bit of both of them in the Earthrace story.
Lots of people set out on expensive and dangerous campaigns to break records. Some climb Everest, others fly hot air balloons. What is the America's Cup but a hugely expensive, ego-driven exercise in proving who has the fastest boat?
At least Earthrace had an element to it other than pure sport - raising awareness of greener fuels.
What do you think? Should Bethune and his crew have called off the race after the fatal crash off Guatemala? Has the race done anything to increase understanding of bio-fuel and its potential as an alternative to oil? Should Earthrace have another crack at the record?
