Priest puts faith in solar power for epic trip
A Russian Orthodox priest turned voyager who has rowed thousands of kilometres across the Southern Ocean and flown around the world in a hot-air balloon is to harness the power of the sun in his latest feat of endurance.
Fyodor Konyukhov, 69, aims to make the first solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean using a solar-powered electric catamaran. Nova, his 11-metre carbonfibre boat, is being built by a British company.
Between 2018 and 2019, Konyukhov rowed solo for over 11,000 kilometres from Dunedin to Cape Horn. In 2016, he set a world record for the fastest solo trip around the world in a hot-air balloon of 11 days. He places great store in Orthodox Church icons of St Nicholas attached to the interior of his craft.
In December, Konyukhov will begin a 15,000km journey from Valparaiso,
Chile to Brisbane, which is expected to take four months.
Nova will depend entirely on energy produced by flexible solar modules covering the deck and hulls. These are expected to generate about 36 kilowatt hours of energy per day, powering navigation equipment, a desalination system, and electric motors. Twenty-four rechargeable batteries will store enough energy for the craft to operate continuously for 40 hours.
During the journey, Konyukhov will use technology developed by Russia’s Institute of Oceanology to monitor microplastics in the ocean.
A veteran of two Mt Everest climbs and three journeys to the North Pole, Konyukhov is renowned for his doughtiness.
Born in Ukraine, he completed his first expedition at 15 by rowing across the Sea of Azov. He has sailed, skied, rafted and climbed in the Arctic, Siberia and Russia’s Far East.
Konyukhov was ordained into the Moscow patriarchate in 2010, and said he would temporarily give up ‘‘travelling like Moses through the desert’’ to spend more time praying. He could not resist the call of adventure, however.