Bio diesel boat visits Cornwall

Earthrace broke the existing record by almost 15 days

A record breaking power boat fuelled entirely by bio diesel has arrived in Cornwall as part of a move to raise awareness of renewable fuels.

Earthrace - with its four-man crew - broke a 10-year-old circumnavigation of the globe record when it crossed the finishing line in Spain in June.

Its 24,000-nautical mile trip took 60 days, 23 minutes and 49 seconds.

The boat will be in Fowey until Saturday, after which it will carry on touring around the UK and Europe.

During the record-breaking trip the crew had to contend with storms, equipment failure, a traffic jam in the Panama Canal and being shot at in South America.

It was one of the scariest times of my life Pete Bethune, Earthrace skipper

New Zealand skipper Pete Bethune said when the shots were fired, the crew thought they were being attacked by pirates.

"We were fishing about 150 miles east of Nicaragua when we spotted five guys aiming rifles at us," he told BBC News.

"I was suspicious when they wanted to come aboard, but as I started to pull away there was a flash from the muzzle of one of the guns and a dull thud as a bullet hit the boat.

The "pirates" then identified themselves as the Columbian Navy.

Drug enforcement

Mr Bethune said the leader of the Columbian crew boarded Earthrace and pointed an assault gun directly at his head, demanding to know why the boat had tried to leave.

"When I said his boat didn't look like part of the Columbian Navy, he indignantly told me it was a 'very fine naval vessel' carrying out drug enforcement patrols," he said.

After a quick inspection, the naval crew disembarked, leaving a very shaken Earthrace crew.

"It was one of the scariest times of my life - really intimidating," Mr Bethune added.

The previous circumnavigation record, set in 1998 was 75 days.