The Ecolution, an innovative sailing yacht built by former Dutch astronaut Wubbo Ockels, reached port in Scheveningen near The Hague on Tuesday afternoon after a test voyage without difficulties.
The futuristic boat was sabotaged and sunk by vandals in the docks in the northern city of Groningen last December. Mr Ockels says the first phase of repairs have been completed. As a result, the boat was launched in the North Sea for a test voyage. In September, work will begin to repair the boats state of the art electronics. In the meantime, more tests will be carried out on the water.
Mr Ockels called the test voyage with the Ecolution “ fantastic”. He said, “My wife and I shed tears when the sail was hoisted for the first time.”
The hyper-modern yacht with its space-age design is able to generate its own energy and is built with sustainable material. It was on display among the tall ships during Sail 2010 in Amsterdam last year.
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