Cerion Energy is a company started by ex-Kodak scientists, and GO2 works by using nanotechnology, in this case 160 Cerium Dioxide and Iron Oxide atoms suspended within a crystalline structure of 320 radical oxygen atoms. The effect is rather like using a catalyst that is everywhere. Whereas the catalysts that clean your exhaust work by passing the gases over a solid with a large surface, and therefore missing a lot of opportunities, nanoparticles are similar in size to the molecules whose combustion in you motor’s cylinders they are helping.

Cerion started out by supplying the big consumers in the commercial marine, mining, oil & gas and rail industries, but the big players in the yachting industry soon contacted them.

Independent tests on super yachts Apogee and Big Fish, and winning a 2011 Dame Award for Most Eco-Friendly Product, all helped to build GO2′s current reputation in the yachting industry.

Through thousands of hours of on-road, marine and rail tests, GO2 has been proven to achieve 8-13% improvement in fuel efficiency while providing a reduction of up to 40% in particulate emissions and 10-20% in greenhouse gas emissions – which is all very laudable, but how much do you have to pay for it?

I checked Cerion’s price against the price of diesel at the dock across the USA, and was very pleasantly surprised. As I write this, diesel prices vary from US$7.20 to US$3.50 a gallon and topping up with the recommended amount of GO2 adds 14 cents a gallon to that, i.e. between 2% and 4%. Since you should be able to achieve at least 8% improvement in consumption, it’s worth it just to reduce your fuel bills. The 40% reduction in the muck that leaves filthy stains  on your hull and the 10-20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions are the very rich gravy that comes with the product.

To find out more, take a look at Cerion’s website, or their ad on LinkedIn

Most of the sailing folk to whom this blog is dedicated also use auxiliary motors when they have to, so I don’t feel I need to make excuses for talking about something that makes the experience a little more pleasant.

dolphinfish peppersteak

In the very early hours, Emmanuel was wakened by hammering on the hatch cover of his hull. He open it to find Max on hands and knees (the only way to move around this tiny craft in rough weather) with a cable between his teeth.

“I’ve had enough of this. Let’s boot up your laptop and get on to the net.”

They normally post updates to their blog via their Iridium phone during daylight hours, but they spent the next hour writing – with difficulty because of the movement. By the time they had finished, the wind had died down and the moon was shining again.

Shooting the sun

Not all extreme catamaran sailing is about speed – whether it’s Groupama seeking ocean speed records or I-Shares Cup and America’s Cup lightweights tearing around in relatively smooth water.

The Berque twins are old hands at taking on the Atlantic in a variety of craft less than 5 metres long, in extremely minimalist conditions. At the age of 61 (62 on 10 january 2012) they are off again, in the catamaran Micromegas 5.

This time, they are using modern technology to film and to communicate, but on a tight financial and energy budget. They have an Iridium satellite phone – which they used to transmit the two photos you see here – and digital camcorders and cameras. They have solar chargers so that they can film, edit and upload – but they live on gofio (a Canaries staple rather like couscous ground into a flour), canned sardines, raw fish and very hot sauces made from red peppers, and they use kerosene lanterns. Their water supply is in litre plastic bottles.

Supper straight from the sea. Ready to eat.

They have now been at sea since 05 Jan 2012, and their SMS messages have been about naked sunbathing, moonlit nights, fresh fish, a 2.5 metre shark, and covering an average daily distance of 100 miles. It sounds as if the sardines are still in their cans.

I wonder what the other extreme catamaran sailing crews would think.

The sky was cloudless, the water 28°C, the wind very light and on the nose. If that doesn’t change, they’ll probably still be able to see the island at dawn tomorrow, since Puerto San Sebastian is on the northeast side.

I’ll be posting daily updates here, but why not join the party of well-wishers on the open Facebook group MICROMEGAS? You can also follow my Tweets with hashtag #micromegas.

Suffice to say that the twins are fit and enthusiastic, and Micromegas 5 is down to her designed fully loaded waterline, weighing in at over a ton.

OOPS. A bit premature. I’m told they’ll leave tomorrow morning, which makes more sense than taking off with only an hour or two of daylight left.