This is is not the Bat Boat - it is the Earthrace powerboat.

Designed and constructed in New Zealand of carbon/Kevlar composites, and powered by twin 100% biodiesel Cummins engines, Earthrace is one of the wildest-looking machines on the water. Pete Bethune and crew visited Portland for a few days in August 2006 near the beginning of a global tour to promote biodiesel propulsion, and to prepare for a record-setting run around the world in 2007.

Fortuitous timing had me at McCall Waterfront Park as Earthrace cruised down the Willamette River under the Hawthorne Bridge. I rushed down to the marina as the watercraft approached, and was called by one of the crew to help pull it in. I put down the camera, caught a rope, and tugged the beast by the stern toward the dock. A crewmate hopped off to take over. Cool. :-)

The crew were friendly and open about their craft, answering and elaborating on many questions posed by onlookers. Unsupervised visits of the interior were allowed for only five bucks.

For other reasons, I had decided on this day to equip my 20D with the 85/f1.8 prime instead of the 17-40/f4 zoom. The result was good exterior work, but impossibly tight interior shots. That explains the closeups of the cockpit, as those were about all I could capture. The overcast sky cleared later in the day, long after my lunch-hour excursion to the river.

I express my thanks to Pete Bethune and his crew of Earthrace, and wish them the best of luck in their voyages.

You may learn more at the Earthrace Web site.