Skip to content

A Ride on the Plastic Fantastic

Plastiki, a 60-ft catamaran made entirely of recycled — in the form of used irrigation pipes for the masts and old soda bottles for flotation — and recyclable materials, is nearly ready for an offshore shakedown cruise. The team is just waiting for the right weather window.

latitude/Rob
©2010 Latitude 38 Media, LLC

For the last couple months, David de Rothschild’s eco-adventure cat, Plastiki, has been seen stretching her legs on the Bay. The 60-ft boat has made international headlines, partly due to de Rothschild’s celebrity — he’s the 31-year-old son of prominent banker Sir Evelyn de Rothschild — and partly due to the whacky nature of the project.

David de Rothschild admits to being a novice sailor, but that hasn’t dampened his enthusiasm for this project.

latitude/LaDonna
©2010 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
A little inspiration — Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon Tiki not only inspired Plastiki’s name, but inspired the project itself.

latitude/LaDonna
©2010 Latitude 38 Media, LLC

When we first reported on the project in last April’s Latitude 38, the Plastiki team said the craft would be finished and on her way to the South Pacific within a month. But as any sailor knows, you can’t rush boat projects. A year later, Plastiki is finally plying the waters of the Bay, working out her kinks and bugs, and is nearly ready to shove off on her international voyage to promote ‘upcycling’ — the practice of reusing items in a new and different way.

Experienced ocean sailor and Plastiki skipper Jo Royle says of the boat’s seaworthiness: “Would you attempt to cross an ocean on a boat you didn’t think would make it? I sure wouldn’t!”

latitude/LaDonna
©2010 Latitude 38 Media, LLC

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of meeting the Plastiki crew and going for a daysail aboard the much-misunderstood cat. We’ll have a full report in the March issue of Latitude, but we would be remiss if we didn’t tell you that, although we stepped aboard with some reservations and concerns about the project, we left Plastiki with a new-found respect for the boat, her mission and the talented crew that have made her what she is.

Leave a Comment




USA hunts down Alinghi 5 in the pre-start, drawing a penalty on the Swiss team shortly after this photo was taken.
The Singlehanded TransPac — a 2,120-mile run from the Bay to Kauai — is really gaining a head of steam, with the entry list expanding and seminars out the wazoo.
Hang onto your hats. Here comes Rene. © Fiji Met Service As we go to press with this edition of ‘Lectronic, we’ve just been informed that a nasty category 2 cyclone, dubbed Rene, is bearing down on the Kingdom of Tonga and is expected to build in intensity.