One of the most unusual oceangoing boats of
the last decade is about to be launched in Chile- and will be in a class of its own. The Viracocha
III is built from tortora reed and is aimed at
recreating Pacific voyages of the past.
British skipper Andy Dare has seen the boat
at various stages of build and says: “It does
not actually have a waterproof hull, or indeed
anything that keeps the water out. There is no
glue, no nails were used and it has been made
by just tying together bunches of dried tortora
reeds into 20m bundles. Several of these are
then are tied together to make ever larger
bundles, until the final two hulls are made, and
they are about 2m in diameter.
“From the moment it launches, it is a race
against time, as it actually slowly starts to sink!”
The plan after launch is to sail the boat
on a 10,000 mile voyage across the Pacific
to Australia. We will have a feature on this
extraordinary boat in one of our next issues.
Reed boat to
cross Pacific...
before it sinks
James Blake/Volvo Ocean Race
Andrew DareAndrew Dare Andrew Dare