Australia
The Australian OffShore Challenge - one of the last great adventures
December 15, 2005 Bass Strait will rate on any list of the most treacherous places on earth – separating the world’s largest island (Australia) from one of the world’s largest and most pristine wilderness regions, Tasmania, it claimed its first recorded shipwreck in 1422 and has been claiming lives at an alarming rate ever since, including the infamous 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race in which six souls were lost. Already it plays host to one of the world’s great boating adventures, in the form of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, it will be joined by a second great competition next year - the Australian OffShore Challenge. Run in the form of a navigational rally, the OffShore Challenge will run annually from June 2006 and enable competitors from all over the planet to bring their own boat or hire one and safely sail, much less compete on a stretch of water of such renown. Travelling Bass Strait can be very dangerous and would not normally be recommended so the event offers the unique proposition of travelling in an organised event with charts, organization, air support and the company of other boats through some of the most spectacular, dangerous and remote scenery on the planet. It begins in Hobart at Wrest Point Casino on February 22, 2006, with competitors heading south on the first morning through the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, before their first taste of open water across Storm Bay. Then it’s up the east coast of the former penal colony around Tasman Peninsula, Maria Island, Freycinet Peninsula, the Bay of Fires and on to Eddystone Lighthouse. At that point, the event enters Bass Strait, but in a series of short stages around Clarke Island, Cape Barren Island, to Flinders Island. The final part of the crossing is taken after a break , navigating a passage to the mainland state of Victoria via Deal Island, the Hogan Group, to refuel at Port Albert. Next day, the national park of Wilsons Promontory before heading west to the sheltered inlet at Inverloch, then Westernport Bay via the San Remo narrows. A final rest and preparation for the big one - through The Rip at Port Phillip Heads to Geelong. The last day is then a short sprint across the Bay to St. Kilda and then a cruise to the Docklands marina in the heart of Melbourne for the gala finish. We believe this event will become one of the great adventures on the planet as it is designed to bring small motor yachts together from all over the world for a celebration of the finest yachting has to offer in relative safety and comfort. Read More
September 25, 2005 As we reported last week, a pair of Yamaha’s potent fuel injected YFM700R Raptor All Terrain Vehicles has just completed a trans-Australian crossing. Matt Brown and Ross Ledger left Byron Bay Lighthouse, the eastern-most point of Australia and spent two weeks in the harshest environment this side of the moon before arriving in Steep Point, WA and earning a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest trip ever completed on an ATV. The pair kept a daily diary and took pics along the way. This is the diary kept by a team of Matt, Ross and the support crew, in their own words, and these are the images taken by the support crew. If you’ve ever wondered just how big Australia is, check out the image library. Read More
August 11, 2005 The Australian Army scored a first when it performed the first successful firing of a HELLFIRE II missile from Australia's Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter (ARH), at the Woomera test range in Australia's southern desert earlier this week. The Tiger is the first non-U.S. platform to integrate the HELLFIRE II missile. The missile was equipped with an inert warhead and was launched in the lock-on-before-launch mode by a Eurocopter test pilot, targeting a simulated armored personnel carrier (APC) target six kilometers downrange. The target was designated by the launching ARH helicopter. The missile struck dead center, leaving a gaping hole in the target. The Hellfire II comes in four models: the high-explosive anti-tank missile, the blast fragmentation missile, the millimeter-wave radar Longbow missile and the thermobaric Hellfire missile. Watch the videos inside to understand the differences between each lethal variant. Read More
March 7, 2005 The Australian Grand Prix marked the beginning of the Formula One season and once again offered intrigue at almost every turn of the wheel. In the end, the Mild Seven Renault Team had its best result since returning to F1 three years ago and clearly has the speed to be a challenger to Ferrari this season. Renault won the weekend from a team viewpoint, with Fisichella first and Alonso third, though most of the leading contenders could take some heart from the weekend’s proceedings. McLaren is clearly a contender again, Ferrari’s 2004 car was competitive (the 2005 car won’t be ready for several races yet) and Red Bull proved that small budgets and a good driver can get results with two point-scoring finishes using last year’s Jaguars as a basis. Read More
The Joint Strike Fighter on show at Australian International Airshow
February 24, 2005 The future of military aviation, the potent Joint Strike Fighter, will be featured at to the Australian International Airshow in March where a full scale and technically detailed replica of this massive and imposing warplane will be on static display for close inspection by military decision makers, aeronautical engineers and the general public to inspect the aircraft. It will be equipped with the latest computerised control and combat systems. Read More
November 15, 2004 A novel range of limited edition ceramic alcohol decanters in the shape of a motorcycle frame, oil drum and bowser, engine motor and eclectic objects like an eightball are now available from Australian based Ceramic Innovations. The decanters are designed to catch the eye of the discerning Aussie bloke and cosmetically enhance the home or office bar. All 'Eclectic Vessels' feature a brass tap, a chemically inert grommet, a ceramic body for the decanter, food grade glazes and hand made wooden or metal stands to complement the shape. Read More
October 16, 2004 Segway has appointed an exclusive Australian distributor, SegwaySouthernCross which will distribute and market Segway machines in Australia. The Segway Human Transporter was released in April 2002 amid much fanfare and hype generated by the secrecy surrounding the project (aka Project Ginger), the presence of serial entrepreneur and inventor Dean Kamen and the number of high profile luminaries who had invested in the project during the early round private funding. It was seen by many as the future of human transport, a difficult claim to live up to and one which some parts of the media seemed to delight in negatively assessing it against. Read More
Australian music consumers will soon be able to purchase vouchers to buy music online without the need for a credit card. Pre-paid voucher vending terminals will be introduced in around 10,000 retail outlets across the country over coming months with a view to capturing the web-savvy and normally credit card-less under 18 marketplace. Read More
The smart roadster two-seater convertible will launch in Australia next month promising purists the chance to sample an "intensive open-air motoring experience". The diminutive roadster has an engine output of 60 kW, weighs only 790 kilograms and can accelerate from 0 - 100 kmh in 10.9 seconds. Read More
Saturday November 8, 2003: The Metro Theatre in Sydney will introduce mobile phone-based bar code ticketing in Australia next month. "Mobi-tickets" are received in the form of an sms containing a barcode that is subsequently scanned by the ticket attendant when you arrive at the gate. Read More
