Water Sports

Bone-Conduction and Infrared FINIS AquaPulse Heart Rate Monitor for swimmers

By Mike Hanlon

18:34 April 21, 2009 PDT

We have already professed our love for the Finis Swimmers Snorkel, eulogized about the antidote to lap-grinding boredom known as the bone-conduction SwiMP3 underwater music player and now we're gonna do it all over again for the USD$140 AquaPulse heart rate monitor, a workout accessory for swimmers wishing to optimize their water-based exercise routine through heart rate training. Are we just raging fanboys? No, we do however rejoice in the logical and practical application of technology to enable new and better ways of doing things, and Finis will again deliver just that (in May). Read More

Flow measurement gives Olympic swimmers the edge

By Kyle Sherer

07:27 August 12, 2008 PDT

One of the secret weapons of the US assault on the pool in Beijing is a high-tech flow measurement technique developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute which aims to help athletes gain that critical few extra milliseconds by providing state-of-the-art analysis of how much energy the swimmers exert and how their body affects the water. Read More

Beach Pockets secures your sun umbrella

By Emily Clark

03:19 July 24, 2008 PDT

We've encountered solutions to the problem of runaway sun umbrellas before, but there's a practical simplicity about this one. Beach Pockets from Seebreeze is a simple way to secure your umbrella by using sand on the beach to weight it down and prevent it from blowing away. Read More

Silver Rapids: waterpark meets ski resort

By Emily Clark

21:40 April 30, 2008 PDT

Located in Idaho’s Northern Rockies, the Silver Mountain Resort is a ski destination in the winter months. Visitors will now be able to enjoy adventure all year round in the area, with the addition of an indoor waterpark. Read More

Aquatic Fitness Systems' advanced swim spas

By Emily Clark

21:55 March 10, 2008 PDT

March 11, 2008 Aquatic Fitness Systems has taken a multi-faceted approach to the low impact benefits of training in the water by incorporating walking, running, stretching, rowing and strength training functionality into its line of luxury swim spas. Read More

Sink or swim: floating Hybrid XPliers

By Emily Clark

23:03 March 5, 2008 PST

March 6, 2008 Robrady is a name most of our readers will associate with bleeding-edge electric motorcycle designs, but the company’s portfolio has several facets including a partnership with marine tool specialists XTools. The latest product to emerge from this collaboration is a pair of rugged hybrid pliers, which like all tools in the range, float when they hit the water. Read More

Sunreef 100ft+ luxury charter catamarans

By Jude Garvey

23:02 March 3, 2008 PST

March 4, 2008 Sunreef is adding to its fleet of luxury charter boats with an enormous 102 ft. double-deck, sailing catamaran. This vessel will be the largest boat in their current fleet but not for long as there are grand plans to launch 150, 170 and 200 footers in the future. Read More

Extreme swimming pools: the biggest and deepest dips on the planet

By Jude Garvey

21:56 February 27, 2008 PST

February 28, 2008 Looking to beat the heat this summer by installing your own swimming pool? We thought we would give you a taste of what you almost certainly can't have when designing your dream backyard aquatic paradise. Firstly, there's the world's largest pool with an area equivalent to an incredible 6,000 standard-size 26 ft long domestic pools located at the San Alfonso Del Mar resort in Chile, and, going to the other extreme, there's Belgium's amazing 100 foot deep, 660,000 gallon (and heated!) Nemo33 dive pool. Read More

Beijing’s Olympic Aquatic Centre: the eye-catching, eco-friendly Water Cube

By Jude Garvey

23:19 February 5, 2008 PST

February 6, 2008 Construction work on the Beijing National Aquatic Center began in December 2003 in preparation for the 2008 Olympics and four years later, a stunning piece of architecture has been completed. The “Water Cube” is a rectangular-shaped steel building covered by a membrane of brightly lit blue bubbles which is incredible to look at but it is also important on an environmental level. The Water Cube consists of 100,000 sq m of ETFE, (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) a unique transparent plastic which absorbs solar radiation and reduces thermal loss. This is the first time EFTE has been used in China and it is the world’s largest and most complex EFTE building ever constructed. Read More

Sealegs amphibious vehicle sets sights on speed record

By Emily Clark

21:27 December 4, 2007 PST

December 5, 2007 Sealegs International is gearing up for a world record attempt as the fastest amphibious vehicle over 500m on-water. Read More

Reactor launches new action sports watch models

By Darren Quick

00:52 October 11, 2007 PDT

October 11, 2007 Sports watch maker Reactor has announced a new range of watches aimed at the action sports enthusiast. Starting with the "Graviton", a water-sports watch featuring a pre-programmed database of tide information for 275 worldwide locations, the new watches adhere to six key attributes that Reactor calls the “DNA” of the brand: all cases and bracelets are solid 316L stainless steel; all watches have screw-in crowns with crown guards; the bracelet/case interface has a stainless steel screw bar attached with allen-head screws; Swiss Superluminova on markers and hands; a forged caseback; and secure folding clasps on all metal bracelets. Read More

Cayago Magnum: turning Navy Seals into dolphins?

By Loz Blain

16:49 October 9, 2007 PDT

October 10, 2007 The Seabob electric underwater propulsion device captured our imagination earlier in the year, acting like a 20kmh powered bodyboard and allowing users to dart along coral reefs and the ocean floor like they were born with fins. We’ve since discovered that the company has now produced a souped up version called the Cayago Magnum with 2½ times the available power or endurance. With the existing Seabob models already setting a pretty thrilling pace for leisure use, the high performance Magnum will be pitched as a military and special forces tool that will enable operatives to move exceptionally quickly from point to point, underwater and in total silence. Read More

Speedsailing records tumble at Walvis Bay

By Loz Blain

20:32 September 20, 2007 PDT

September 21, 2007 Speedsailing competitors from all over the world flocked to Walvis Bay in Namibia recently where a combination of high winds and smooth seas saw several records tumble. The fastest run of the week was by Italian Patrick Diethelm, who completed the 500m pass at a blazing average of 43.02 knots – a ground speed of just under 80kmh and a new Italian men’s record. Read More

Convertible flippers eliminate duck waddle

By Loz Blain

21:08 September 19, 2007 PDT

September 20, 2007 We’ve written before about high-tech swim fins designed to be as efficient as possible in the water – but the problem remains that they’re very awkward and restrictive on land. That’s why we can instantly see the value of these convertible fins from Omega Aquatics that fold up out of the way to allow full mobility out of the water and click down with your first kick once you’re in the water. Read More

ClearPoint predictive weather service

By Emily Clark

19:15 September 10, 2007 PDT

September 11, 2007 A new offering from ClearPoint provides boat owners, sailing clubs, marinas and weather-watchers with a comprehensive high-resolution weather information service. Available via the Internet, ClearPoint Premium Edition tracks marine craft as they sail to show prevailing weather conditions at any location. Read More

Electric inflatable watercraft - the Jetski for beginners

By Shaun McKeegan

05:37 August 21, 2007 PDT

August 21, 2007 Inflatable watercraft are now available for dozens of different recreational purposes, from basic loungers through to purpose-built inflatables that come in every imaginable size and shape. A new product from Icontech, the Electric Inflatable Watercraft, is a battery powered, sit-down jetski-like product, that has a maximum speed of 10kmh and is an affordable alternative for the beginner or novice water enthusiast. Read More

The 25mph Surfango PowerKayak

By Loz Blain

18:44 August 1, 2007 PDT

August 2, 2008 Unless you happen to be shooting a raging white-water rapid the prospect of reaching speeds anywhere near 25mph is not something normally associated with kayaking – but swap paddle power for a 9.5hp engine and the whole game changes. We’ve covered a menagerie of fun watersports machines recently, from the amphibious Quadski to the Aquajet Jetbike, all aimed at injecting a serious dose of thrills into aquatic activities and the latest to catch our attention - Surfango’s PowerKayak - is no exception. The PowerKayak mates the body of a kayak with a fun little 4-stroke engine to deliver a 25mph top speed and the ability to explore lakes and rivers with no regard for what the wind and current are doing. Read More

Asymmetric fishtail flippers promote a more natural kicking motion for swimmers

By Loz Blain

July 24, 2007 The idea of attaching fish-like fins to the body to propel us more efficiently through the water occurred to many early inventors, including Leonardo da Vinci, but it wasn’t until the early 1940s that flippers came into actual use – in this case, for the US Navy’s underwater demolition teams. Since then, they’ve become popular around the world for skin diving, snorkeling and swimming training. Look at the tails of fast fish, however, and you’ll notice that none of them sport a flat-edged tail – and it’s this observation that has driven Italian swim fin specialists Salvas to develop a new asymmetric fin design to get maximal kicking power out of a swimmer while promoting a more natural kicking motion than many standard fins. Read More