Named Yrvind Ten after its 10 foot length, the miniature vessel
will be just 1.8 meters wide with two six meter-tall masts.
Weighing 1.5 tons, it will be made out of a composite foam and
fiberglass material which, he says, is "excellent for insulation
and floatation." Powered by wind, solar panels, gel batteries
and a foot crank, Yrvind Ten will set sail from Ireland in a
48,000 kilometer return journey around the globe. Sir Robin
Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail around the world in 1969
in a 9.8 meter yacht, said there was a real possibility Yrvind
would complete the voyage. Briton Knox-Johnston, who also
founded the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, added that many
people had thought his own bid to circumnavigate the globe was
impossible at the time. "One of the biggest challenges he'll
face is when he's coming up against these massive 25 meter waves
in the Southern Ocean. In a boat that size he's just going to be
rolled around and around like he's inside a giant washing
machine," Knox-Johnston sai