The solar powered catamaran made its historic arrival into New York's North Cove Marina at 3.00pm on May 8, 2007. The arrival completes a 7'000 mile journey across the Atlantic in a motorized boat that utilized not one drop of oil.
The Mayor of Miami, Manuel A. Diaz, officially declared the 2nd April 2007 the “sun21” day during the reception of the successful Atlantic crossers on the American mainland. Already on the 29th March 2007 at around 3:30 PM (local time), the solar boat reached the American coast, thus successfully covered another 1400 nautical miles.
The Caribbean impressed the “sun21” crew with crystal clear water and blue lagoons, but the 1400 sea miles from Martinique to Miami held several challenges: strong currents, the shallow depth of the sea and coral reefs demanded a lot from the skipper. “The solar catamaran survived all the moods of the crossed seas staunchly and independently,” the crew reported.
On 2 February 2007, the solar powered catamaran "sun21"arrived in the harbour of Le Marin, Martinique. The arrival at 3 pm local time is an historic feat and makes «sun21» the first motorized vessel to cross the Atlantic without using a drop of fuel.
The crew of the "sun21" spent Christmas and New Year's Eve on the Canary Islands. Midway between the Canary Islands and Cape Verde, the "sun21" crew decided to head directly to Martinique without the originally planned stop-over in Cape Verde.
>> pictures
In the evening of 20 November 2006, the "sun21" arrived in Seville, after sailing upstream the Guadalquivir River for 75 km from its mouth in the Atlantic. The mayor of Seville, Mr. Alfredo Sanchez Monteseirin, presented the project, the boat and the crew to the city of Seville two days later in an event fully covered by the media.
On Monday, 16 October 2006, the catamaran was officially launched by Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey.
In spite of the dull weather, many visitors used the opportunity to enjoy a close inspection of the "sun21" on 14 October 2006. The crew members answered countless questions concerning topics such as the functionality of the solar system, the behaviour of the ship on the open sea and the provisions for the journey.