Forget The Energizer Bunny – Here Comes The Turanor PlanetSolar [VIDEO]

Around the world by sail? That's already been done.

Around the world in 80 days? That's so 19th century.

Around the world on a luxury yacht? That sounds like fun, but it's still pretty 20th century.

Around the world in a modern ship without using a single drop of fuel? Now THAT is the future!

Or is it?

The Turanor PlanetSolar catamaran is right about now crossing the Gulf of Aden on its way to the Red Sea, and nearing the end of its nearly two year, round the world journey.

All without using a single drop of fuel.

You see, the Turanor PlanetSolar is a completely solar powered ship. The project is headed by Swiss engineer, Raphael Domjan, who says he got the name from the J.R.R. Tolkein The Lord Of The Rings novels. Turanor PlanetSolar loosely translates to mean "The power of the sun."

According to its builders, the ship is the largest of its kind at 24 feet tall, 100 feet long and 50 feet wide. Its deck is an array of 38,000 photovoltaic cells covering more than 5,700 square feet, and it is currently circumnavigating the planet using only solar energy.

From the official Turanor PlanetSolar website you can learn more about the ship, its seaborne crew and its land based crew, even keep up with the journey, now more than 525 days long, with the ships log updates.

Dave D.