As you read this, 30-year-old Alexia Barrier is scheduled to be completing her first full day of a solo circumnavigation aboard the 60-foot sailing yacht 4MyPlanet. Leading charter company Camper & Nicholsons International is a partner in the 4MyPlanet effort, which is intended to collect scientific data that will help with ocean research and preservation.

Barrier’s itinerary was set to begin yesterday in Monaco. Her first stop is scheduled to be Cape Town, South Africa, followed by Sydney, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and New York City, USA. The transatlantic from New York to Europe is expected to put Barrier back in Monaco in mid-June.

A series of educational conferences about ocean conservation is planned in conjunction with Barrier’s stops along the route. Additional conferences are planned for after her arrival in Monaco this summer.

Camper & Nicholsons’ support of the effort is the latest in a number of actions the company has taken to “go green.” In 2006, the firm adopted “carbon neutral” business practices. Not long after, Camper became one of the first agencies to offer charter clients the option of offsetting the carbon effects of yacht vacations in tandem with the CarbonNeutral Company. Most recently, the company has begun to pull back on the number of printed brochures and handouts that it distributes at boat shows, instead making such information available digitally and on demand to charter brokers and media.

Hot off the digital press from management company Camper & Nicholsons International come these computer-generated renderings of Panthalassa, a 184-foot sailing yacht that is scheduled to launch from Italy’s Perini Navi shipyard on November 14. She is being promoted as the only Perini of her size with six guests cabins. Early marketing materials also say she will carry custom-built, high-speed tenders as well as an inflatable swimming pool.

Also note the top of the round skylight in the rendering above. It will serve double-duty as a dining table on the top deck while allowing natural light to filter through to the main deck interior. Even more dramatic is that LED lights are set within the glass to create dramatic mood lighting throughout the yacht at nighttime.

Foster + Partners worked on the design with Perini Navi, bringing an interesting eye to the world of yachting. The London-based architecture firm, which has worked on boats in the past, is primarily known for the contemporary designs of Chep Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong, City Hall in London, and the still under-construction Crystal Island in Moscow.

Panthalassa is expected to be in the Caribbean this winter followed by the Mediterranean next summer. The lowest weekly base rate will be €200,000.

Below are a few more renderings to whet your appetite for what will, no doubt, be one of the most talked-about new yachts to enter the crewed charter market in 2010. Here’s a look at the expected styling of Panthalassa‘s aft deck, guest nook, guest cabin, and dining room: