Home » Outdoor & Recreation » Adventure Sports » World's Largest and Fastest Cat

World's Largest and Fastest Cat

©

The world's fastest and largest catamaran, the Explorer, ploughs through cold and windy waters with record-breaking Cam Lewis at the helm. Lewis has announced his entry into TheRACE. He will lead Team Adventure/USA in this first ever no-limits, non-stop, no assistance, race around the world.

"TheRACE is the future of sailing," Lewis said. "I am excited to join the world's top sailors in the quest to set new records in a venue never before attempted. This is a fantastic event that we have to look forward to."

Lewis is about to break another record by having a catamaran built that is even faster and larger than the 86-foot Explorer. Team Adventure/USA will be sailing in TheRACE on a new 125-foot catamaran, the largest catamaran ever built. It will be 50-feet wide with a mast height 165 feet above water and will hold 12 to 14 crew members. This massive sailing vessel will blast across the water at speeds close to 50 miles per hour. The estimated cost of building the catamaran is approximately $6 million and will be funded by the Founder's Group, a private support syndicate dedicated to funding the construction of the fastest sailing boats in the world.

"I am working with top boat designers to create a catamaran that will carry me and Team Adventure/USA to victory...," Lewis said. "As the only representative of my country, I hope to engage my fellow Americans in the sporting event of the century."

TheRACE, sponsored by Disneyland Paris, Volvo International and the French government, was designed to celebrate the new millennium and will begin on December 31, 2000. There will be10 entrants from eight countries competing. The teams participating in this 24,000-mile event will race furiously to try to break the current around-the-world record by finishing in less than 70 days, with $1 million going to the winner. The starting and finishing points have yet to be determined.

Team Adventure/USA, as part of Adventure Learning Network (ALN), is a non-profit educational organization, which brings adventure sports to life in the classroom through the Internet. ALN, founded by Lewis, selected TheRACE as the pilot event to launch its educational programming. By sponsoring nearly 20 schools through a grass roots effort, kids can interact with crewmembers via the Internet. With Web-cams placed strategically on the Team Adventure/USA catamaran, the children will be able to virtually feel the intensity of extreme yacht sailing through the ALN Web site.

John Bertrand, winner of the America's Cup, said, "TheRACE is a wonderful opportunity to do something magic. This event will capture many people's imagination around the world."

The copyright of the article World's Largest and Fastest Cat in Adventure Sports is owned by . Permission to republish World's Largest and Fastest Cat in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.