[2] Michael Pawlyn[3] of Exploration Architecture worked on the concept design with David de Rothschild and helped to shape some of the key ideas.

The boat's name is a play on the 1947 Kon-Tiki raft used to sail across the Pacific by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, and its voyage roughly followed the same route.

[4] On March 20, 2010, the sailing vessel set off from San Francisco, California to cross the Pacific Ocean with a crew of six.

[5] The expedition projected landfall in Sydney, Australia and included plans to visit several sites en route of ecological importance or which were susceptible to environmental issues caused by global warming, for instance the current sea level rise, ocean acidification and marine pollution.

[6] Shortly afterwards, it was towed to the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, where it was on display until late August.