PHOTO: Erik Simonson

If Batman had a speedboat, it’d probably look like this. And if Bruce Wayne were a thirty-something billionaire today, he’d probably insist that it run on renewable fuel. Well, in lieu of Bruce Wayne, we have Pete Bethune, New Zealand machine-vision entrepreneur and skipper of the Earthrace. Beginning in March, the Earthrace will attempt to circle the globe at the equator in just 65 days—10 fewer than the current record. And it will do the whole 44 500-kilometer trip running on biodiesel. A major sponsor of the trip, Better Biodiesel, will keep the Earthrace fueled with diesel made using a new low-waste production process. The boat’s designers, Auckland-based Craig Loomes Design Group, built the hull to pierce through waves rather than ride over them, letting the Earthrace’s crew go fast even in rough waters. You can track the ship’s progress at http://www.earthrace.net.