On the Water

Patent granted for walking on water invention

By Mike Hanlon

October 31, 2006 History suggests humans have always been captivated with the possibility of walking on water with references to it in Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. In Egyptian mythology the god Horus walked on water, and in Greek mythology Orion, the son of the gods walked on water. Indeed, Leonardo da Vinci even conceived a set of shoes and stocks which would enable this highly improbable act. Now, thanks to an invention by Massachusetts inventor Yoav Rosen, it seems we may be in need of a new colloquialism for the impossible. Rosen’s Da Vinci-like pontoon shoes have just been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for an “Upright Human Floatation Apparatus And Propulsion Mechanism” and enable him to do just that (video here). Rosen’s company wishes to focus its business activities on its equally remarkable standing kayaks, and is seeking to license or sell its water-walking technology. We spoke with Rosen about his invention. See a video here. Read More

New Royal Navy unmanned fast inshore attack craft

By Mike Hanlon

October 30, 2006 Last week saw the commissioning of two new boats into the UK’s Royal Navy in the form of two remotely controlled Fast Inshore Attack Craft for use during live firing training exercises. Comprising a rigid inflatable boat capable of moving at speed either independently, or while towing a target, the FIAC RT is operated remotely. This allows its operator to conduct manoeuvres safely and realistically whilst live firing training exercises are conducted with small calibre weapons at close proximity to the Naval platform 'under attack'. The design of the craft exploits the technology developed by QinetiQ engineers that helped the RN to clear a key strategic waterway of mines in Iraq during Operation TELIC - the first time the RN used unmanned surface vessels in an operational role. Read More

ABN AMRO ONE retires from round-the-world racing and sets itself for Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

By Mike Hanlon

October 19, 2006 ABN AMRO ONE, the winner of the 2005-6 Volvo Round-the-world Ocean Race will sail in the 2006 Rolex Sydney–Hobart Yacht Race. The world-class race begins its 62nd running on December26 and takes the fleet out of spectacular Sydney Harbour then down the East Coast of Australia, across treacherous Bass Strait finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The crew has its sights firmly on line honours and a race record if the conditions suit the wide-transom boat. The current race record of 42 hours, 14 minutes and 10 seconds is held by Wild Oats. Read More

First non-military diver detection system sold

By Mike Hanlon

September 28, 2006 QinetiQ recently made the first private, non-military sale of its Cerberus high performance diver and swimmer detection sonar system into the yacht market. The system will be deployed to protect a large private yacht and its passengers while at anchor or alongside in harbour. Cerberus, designed to provide early warning of underwater threats to ships and other high value assets, has previously been trailed with naval forces around the world and is currently under extended evaluation with the US Navy. A Cerberus unit will be accommodated in a specially designed moon-pool built into the hull of the private yacht and is expected to go into service in early 2007. Cerberus is able to detect and locate swimmers and divers at ranges exceeding 800 metres, providing operators with sufficient time to establish whether that individual represents a threat and decide upon an appropriate response. Read More

First Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Launched

By Mike Hanlon

September 26, 2006 The LCS is finally in the water, and one of the most anticipated combat ships in history has moved a step closer to deployment. There are two types of LCS (the other is the Austal-designed General Dynamics Trimaran) and the first Lockheed Martin LCS (previous stories here, here and here) was last week christened FREEDOM (LCS-1). The agile 377-foot FREEDOM is the inaugural ship in an entirely new class of U.S. Navy surface warships is designed to help the Navy defeat growing littoral, or close-to-shore, threats and provide access and dominance in coastal water battlespace. Displacing 3,000 metric tons and with a capability of reaching speeds well over 40 knots, FREEDOM will be a fast, maneuverable and networked surface combatant with operational flexibility to execute focused missions, such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and humanitarian relief. Read More

Remote-Control Pool Skimmer

By Mike Hanlon

September 2, 2006 Love what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life. Accordingly, if you can find a way of making disagreeable chores fun, you’re well on the way to making your whole life super peachy keen outside of work. We’ve previously written about how to make mowing the lawn fun, and now here’s a way to make skimming the pool equally enticing – so enticing that you might be able to find others to do it for you. The US$140 Jet Net Remote-Control Pool Skimmer removes leaves, and assorted debris from your swimming pool's surface. The two foot long remote-control catamaran runs on 9 volt rechargeable Ni-MH batteries and does all the work while you laze in the sun up to 100 feet away. Via our esteemed colleague Red at the The Red Ferret Journal Read More

The Protector Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV)

By Mike Hanlon

August 17, 2006 It might be remote controlled and small, but it’s not a toy boat by a long shot. Indeed, it’s the only operational Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) that exists today having successfully served in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean. Developed by Israel’s Rafael Armament Development Authority in response to emerging terrorist threats against maritime assets, the Protector is stealthy, highly autonomous and can operate with general guidance from a commander in port, riverine, harbour and coastal waterways in a variety of roles, thanks to the plug-and-play design of its various mission modules, such as force protection, anti-terror, surveillance and reconnaissance, mine warfare and electronic warfare. The options include a highly accurate, stabilized mini-Typhoon weapon system with an excellent hit-and-kill probability, plus cameras, search radar and a Toplite electro-optical (EO) pod for detection, identification and targeting operations. Read More

Rinspeed Splash makes amphibious English Channel attempt

By Mike Hanlon

July 27, 2006 The English channel is without doubt the world’s busiest waterway, even before the raft of record attempts we have seen for amphibious vehicles in recent times. Yet another amphibious vehicle took to the waters this week, and although the outright amphibious vehicle record remained intact, and the amphibious car record also remained unscathed, there’s a new record for hydrofoil amphibians which has been set by Rinspeed and its outrageous Splash concept car. Read More

The World’s largest Container Ship launched

By Mike Hanlon

July 11, 2006 It’s normal for things in the digital realm to get much larger very quickly, but it seems the same thing is happening with container ships, which seem to be more efficient the bigger they get. Samsung Heavy Industries recently launched the World’s largest container ship, breaking its own world record of 9200 teu (a teu is a 20 ft container) which it set less than 12 months ago. The Xin Los Angeles is the new heavyweight champ and carries 9600 teu - equivalent to 1.3 million 29 inch color TVs, or 50 million mobile phones. Whatsmore, the record will almost certainly be broken again in the near future as SHI has developed a 12,000 teu container ship design in co-operation with Lloyd's Register and is working on a container ship capable of carrying 14,000 teu. To put matters in perspective, SHI built what was then the world’s largest container ship in 1999 - it carried 6,200 teu. This ship is more than three times larger than the Titanic and has a crew of (you’ll never guess) … Read More

environmentally friendly foam for surfboard blanks

By Mike Hanlon

July 7, 2006 Sandia National Laboratories prides itself on provifind technology solutions to the most challenging problems that threaten peace and freedom for our nation and the globe. It’s accordingly highly appropriate that it has developed an environmentally friendly foam that may also be the answer to surf industry crisis. TufFoam was originally conceived by Sandia materials scientists for NNSA as an encapsulant material to protect sensitive electronic and mechanical structures from harsh weapons environments. It is a water-blown, closed-cell, rigid polyurethane foam that features formulations as low as 2 lbs.-per-cubic foot density. But beyond its use as a structural material, the foam likely has other applications. Clark Foam, the leading manufacturer of foam for surfboard construction, unexpectedly closed its doors late last year because of the impact of ever-tightening environmental regulations on the manufacturing of their polyurethane surfboard blanks. The move led to near-panic, particularly in California, by manufacturers and sellers of surfboards who fear they will not be able to find the high strength-to-weight ratio surfboard blanks necessary to make the boards. Surf historian Matt Warshaw, in an article in the Santa Barbara NewsPress, said “it’s the equivalent of removing lumber from the housing industry.” Read More

Orange II shatters PlayStation's Transatlantic Sailing Record

By Mike Hanlon

July 7, 2006 Of all the ocean sailing records, the Atlantic crossing is without doubt the most famous and most sought after. In 2001, legendary American adventurer Steve Fossett sailed across the Atlantic in PlayStation faster than anyone else in 4 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 06 seconds. Today, Frenchman Bruno Peyron and his Orange II crew smashed Fossett's record aboard the maxi catamaran Orange II, finishing the course from Ambrose Light near New York City to Lizard Point off the southwestern tip of Great Britain in just 4 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes and 54 seconds - more than 9 hours faster than Fossett. Halfway through the 3,100 nautical mile trip, Orange II hit a submerged iceberg and broke one of its two steering rudders. The team had to slow down considerably to keep from capsizing but managed to maintain a boat speed average of over 28 knots. Peyron and his veteran team already hold numerous sailing records including the fastest ‘round-the-world time. And on this trip, they broke their own 24-hour world speed record twice -- making Orange II the fastest sailboat in the world. Our report on Orange II and its preparations for this event in depth can be found here. Read More

Orange II sails 752 miles on the first day, and 766 on the second

By Mike Hanlon

July 5, 2006 If you’ve been reading Gizmag regularly over the last month, you’ll know that there’s a significant attempt on the transatlantic sailing record which started earlier this week by Orange II, the world’s fastest sailing boat which already holds the round-the-world record and the 24 hour record. As predicted, skipper Bruno Peyron and the crew are sweeping all before them, and in their first 24 hours on the water the boat demolished its own 24-hour sailing record by covering 752 miles in one day. That’s 60 miles more than the previous record. This is already something that will enter the history books and it may just be the start. On the second day it covered 766 miles, creating a new record again. At the end of the first day, the maxi catamaran was 133 miles ahead of where PlayStation was on the charts at the same time. After the second day, Peyron’s catamaran had built up a lead of 199 miles over the route taken by PlayStation. At the halfway point, (at 11h42 GMT today, there were 1380 miles left to go to cross the finish at The Lizard), the situation is looking good for a new record. Read More

Transatlantic sailing record attempt poised to begin (live on the web)

By Mike Hanlon

July 2, 2006 Five weeks ago we ran a story on the World’s fastest sailing boat, the 36.8 metre Orange II catamaran (amazing image library here) which holds the round-the-world record (50 days, 16 hours, 20 minutes) and the world 24 hour record (706.2 miles at an average speed of 29.42 knots), indicating the boat and crew were on stand-by for an attempt on the trans-Atlantic record of four days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and six seconds. In terms of sheer speed, it is certainly the fastest sailing record in the world. To beat Steve Fossett’s time, skipper Bruno Peyron’s men will have to keep up an average speed of almost 26 knots throughout the Atlantic crossing. That means that the boat will have to be sailed continually at 30 knots to ensure this average is kept up throughout the voyage. The news is that after five weeks of waiting for the ideal conditions, Orange II is now making final preparations to leave New York today. Having a sponsor such as France Telecom enables the whole world to sail with Bruno and the boys during the four day sprint, and not only is it possible to follow the attempt live , there is a live video streaming conference planned for the mid-point of the voyage at the attempt web site. This story includes an interview with Bruno Peyron and is written on the eve of his Atlantic record attempt. Read More

The flight of the Manta Ray

By Mike Hanlon

July 14, 2006 Last month we ran a story on the Kite Tube, a human-bearing inflatable towable water kite and within a week we’ve been sent another one – the Manta Ray has an 11 foot wingspan and is specially designed body to allow an average-sized body to rise out of the water and hover in the air. It takes approximately 23 mph moving to get an average sized adult airborn and hovering but as can be seen from this video, once the Manta Ray is airborn, it can hang there for very long period. Now Sevylor “absolutely discourages attempting to hover with two people” but there’s two seats and … aw shucks! At $US499 it comes in one hundred dollars below the Kite Tube and is distributed across the world.Please note that the Kite Tube has now been withdrawn from the market for safety reasons. Read More

New affordable wristband device prevents drownings

By Mike Hanlon

June 21, 2006 A new wristband device could significantly reduce drownings and near-drownings in swimming pools. The device checks individual swimmers via a small worn wristband, monitoring depth, motion and time. If a bather approaches preset limits the wristband issues a wireless alert via radio and/or ultrasonic transmission. The wristband alarm sounds and the LED lights flash, prompting the swimmer to return to a safer location. If they fail to respond appropriately, the unit issues a full alert to supervisory staff - a feature which reduces 'false-positives', a major problem with many alarm systems. Pool supervisors are highly effective once they recognise that an 'event' is in progress but they are human, and the device gives them and distressed swimmers that vital second chance. Read More

Installing a 45 tonne, 20 cylinder engine

By Mike Hanlon

June 21, 2006 Next time you’re belly-aching about the problems associated with pulling a motor out of the engine bay of your automobile, spare a thought for these guys. They are in the process of building the first of two new 107 metre vehicle-passenger ferries for Hawaii Superferry (HSF). The massive catamarans will be the largest aluminium vessels ever built in the USA and will be used to establish Hawaii’s first high-speed vehicle-passenger service. Each catamaran will carry 866 passengers and 282 vehicles and provide services connecting Honolulu to Maui and Kauai in three hours and from Honolulu to the Big Island in four hours. Each ferry has four 20 cylinder MTU 8000 Series engines, each weighing 45 tonnes and producing 8,200 kw (10,995hp) at 1150 rpm. Read More

Proibito (Forbidden) Yacht Concept

By Mike Hanlon

At just 33 years of age, Christian Grande is very young for a yacht designer with a long professional career and some serious international achievements behind him. In 2005. Grande won the prestigious “Yacht 2005 European Trophy 50/60’Open” design award during the Cannes Boat Show with a nomination for the European Ship of the Year award for his Yacht C52 project for the Sessa Marine shipyard. Now Grande is pushing the edge of the envelope in nautical design again with his Proibito (Italian for “forbidden”) concept. The Proibito is designed to “disappear all the mechanical components of steering and navigation through the utilization of distinctive kinematic systems”, permiting a complete levelling of the deck and the consequent transformation into a completely open yacht. A word of warning – it may look innocent and relaxed and dinghy-like, but with 950 horsepower and a top speed of 60 knots, the Proibito is deceptive in its appearance. Read More

Kite Tube withdrawn from market

By Mike Hanlon

July 14, 2006 Just four weeks ago we wrote about the the Wego Kite Tube and figured it looked like a heap of fun, but reports just in show that about 19,000 Wego Kite Tubes are being voluntarily recalled. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is aware of 39 injury incidents with 29 of those resulting in medical treatment. Those injuries include a broken neck, punctured lung, chest and back injuries and facial injuries. Sportsstuff has received reports of two deaths in the United States and a variety of serious injuries. Sportsstuff has not yet been able to determine the cause of the incidents but has withdrawn the kite tube from the market . The Sportsstuff Wego Kite Tube is a 10-foot-wide, circular, yellow inflatable watercraft designed to be towed behind a power boat. A rider in the tube becomes airborne by pulling on handles attached to the floor of the tube. Model 53-5000 is printed on the tube near the product valve. The floor of the tube has black caution warning stripes. The cover for the product bears a skull and crossbones and the statement "Never Kite higher than you are willing to fall." The tubes were imported and sold through marine distributors, mail order catalogs, and various retailers from approximately October 1, 2005 to July 11, 2006 for about $500 to $600. Consumers should immediately stop using the kite tubes and contact Sportsstuff on (866) 831-5524 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CST Monday through Friday to learn how to obtain free replacement products. Consumers can also visit the firm's Web site for more information. Read More

The coreheat dry-on-the-inside wetsuit

By Mike Hanlon

June 5, 2006 The wetsuit was invented in 1951 by UC Berkeley physicist Hugh Bradner to help the U.S. Navy’s “underwater swimmers” who were experiencing difficulties thanks to the advent of the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) putting them in cold water for long periods. Bradner recognised that divers did not need to be dry to be warm and that thermal insulation could be obtained by air entrapped in the material of the suit … and the wet suit was born. The wetsuit facilitated humans spending long periods in cold water in relative comfort and the protection it affords has been a key enabling factor in the evolution of a host of water-based recreational activities such as sail boarding, body boarding, canyoning, triathlons, swimming, water skiing, diving, sailing and surfboard riding. As the quality of neoprene has improved and wetsuit design has evolved in particular ways for particular sports, the global wetsuit market has grown to somewhere between three and five million units annually. Until recently, wetsuit panels were stitched together, allowing water to enter between the stitching but in recent years, glue-based systems have overcome this problem, though water still enters through the suit’s zipper, plus neck, wrist and ankle openings. Now a new system for preventing water entering the wetsuit altogether raises the possibility of an upmarket, premium drysuit. The coreheat system eliminates many of the problems associated with current wetsuits in that it offers a lighter, more thermally efficient and much more comfortable wet suit that is immune from the cold water flushing which saps the body’s core temperature. Read More

50 mph Quadski converts from Jetski to ATV in five seconds

By Mike Hanlon

Alan Gibb's Aquada and Humdinga high speed amphibious vehicles have been making the headlines for the last few years, partly because they work, partly because they have compelling feature sets and partly because the Aquada has set a few records, most notably in the hands of Sir Richard Branson. Now there's a new affordable Gibbs amphibian on the way that instantly becomes one of the most desirable recreational vehicles on the planet - it's both a quadbike and a jet ski and converts from one guise to the other at the touch of a button in under five seconds, using the 140 bhp motor to reach 50 mph (72km/h) on both land and water. The design offers a new class of recreational vehicle, along with a range of capabilities that make it ideal for life saving clubs, search and rescue, military, emergency services and aid workers who will be able to reach areas and people no two or four wheel drive vehicle could reach. Gibbs Technologies intends to license the design and technology for the Quadski and is seeking expressions of interest. Read More

The world’s fastest catamaran

By Mike Hanlon

May 25, 2006 At 36.8 metres, Orange II is a very large catamaran, designed that way so it can track straight and true at very high speeds. Almost certainly the fastest boat on the water, in August 2004, Bruno Peyron piloted Orange II in an attempt on the crewed Transatlantic record, missing the mark by minutes but setting a new 24-hour distance record by covering 706.2 miles at an average speed of 29.42 knots. In March 2005, Peyron and a 13-man crew completely blew away the around-the-world sailing record set by adventurer Steve Fossett onboard Cheyenne – Orange II’s new mark of 50 days, 16 hours and 20 minutes eclipsed Fossett’s record by seven days. The magnificent maxi-catamaran is now at the Newport Shipyard in Rhode Island, waiting for the appropriate weather window to begin another record transatlantic attempt. Interestingly, Fossett holds the transatlantic record too – set aboard PlayStation, Fossett raised the outright Atlantic crossing record to a point where it can in some ways be compared to the 100-metre dash in athletics. In order to beat the record, Peyron will need to bring all the ingredients together for a perfect race: smooth straight lines on a direct course for home, a strong and steady wind from the right direction… and a level of human endeavour befitting the ocean: a colossal effort! When he starts his endeavour some time in the next week or two, he will have four days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and six seconds to sail across the Atlantic. The pics take a bit of relating to - check out the image library of Orange II - and when you're looking at the images, you'll suddenly realise how big it is - massive. Read More

The floating Nackros Villa

By Mike Hanlon

Given that we apparently crawled out of the primordial slime in our evolutionary path to becoming human, it’s logical that human beings should have an affinity with the water. It’s not just for rehydration purposes that more than 80% of the world’s population lives near water – water brings comfort and renewal. With technology being energised to unprecedented heights, our ability to live near or on the water can now be enhanced and explored in new ways. We’ve been enthralled by Giancarlo Zema’s fascinating Neptus 60 Cliff Habitat and Trilobis 65 floating home and Marcin Panpuch’s Relocatable Amphibious Sphere House, and we have now found another wonderful variation on the theme of living in harmony with water – the Nackros Villa. Modern Marine Homes was established in 2002 with a vision of waterside living without compromise and within 12 months, the first habited show home was in the water in Varvsholmen, Sweden. Development has been ongoing since with ever-changing materials, technical solutions and functionality tried so the company could develop the concept to commercial reality. The current and now available incarnation is the Nackros Villa –a floating multi-story villa crafted by Swedish architect Staffan Strindberg. The 12x12 metre Villa has six rooms and a kitchen, 178 sq metres of living area, 125 square metres of terrace and 74 square metres of windows but is crammed with technologies to enhance your lifestyle and create an ambience of tranquillity and harmony with nature. The bonus is that you can buy one now. Check the image gallery for some beautiful photos of this extraordinary home and read on for Strindberg detailing his work and the thinking and technologies that went into the concept. Read More

The Loon solar-assisted electric pontoonboat

By Mike Hanlon

May 24, 2006 “Exhausting hydrocarbons directly into your own lake isn’t much different from urinating in your family room”, states Monte Gisborne. “We need sensible options if we want to leave something for future generations to enjoy… and I believe that water and electricity do mix!” Monte backed up the talk by building a solar-assisted electric pontoonboat and took his family for a 100 mile, 6-day trip down Ontario’s historic Trent-Severn Waterway to evaluate it. Now he’s developed a commercial version called the Loon for sale to environmentally-conscious boaters around the world. The Loon emits no noise and no emissions and carries up to eight passengers in comfort. Read More

Solar-powered trimaran plans around the world challenge

By Mike Hanlon

May 15, 2006 Last December, we reported on the remarkable Swiss SolarImpule Project which aims to circumnavigate Planet Earth by air using solar power. Now another Swiss project plans to circle the planet using a trimaran, propelled by renewable energies. Two distinct itineraries are planned. From 2008 to 2009, the first around-the-world tour, powered by solar energy, will be undertaken with a schedule allowing for 120 days with stopovers. The planned boat will be 30 meters long, 16 meters wide with a solar panel area of 180 square metres. The second around-the-world tour is foreseen for 2010-2011. It will be a voyage without stopovers, powered by solar energy and hydrogen; taking place in 80 days. The project, which has adopted Henry Dunant’s famous quote, “"Only those who are crazy enough to think

that they can change the world, will!" as its catchcry, is currently seeking sponsors. Read More

New helmet enables normal breathing underwater

By Mike Hanlon

May 12, 2006 Jules Verne would be proud. Columbian start-up Aquanautas has created a new method of enjoying underwater activities without the need for scuba gear, tanks, masks and regulators. By wearing on of the company’s new helmets, a human can breath underwater as they would on the surface. The Aquanautas is designed primarily for tourism-related activities such as resorts and aquariums and is suitable for anyone over the age of 12. Indeed, you don’t even need to know how to swim or even remove your glasses. they only need to wear a swim suit and a pair of sandals. Aquanautas is seeking international distribution and pilot sites. Read More