Archive for the ‘Boating’ Category
France – In what appears to be a who’s who list torn from the pages of the record books, the fastest sailors around the world have now crossed the start line of that all out solo sprint across the Atlantic known as the Route du Rhum. Francis Joyon, the fastest man to sail solo around the world is there on his huge trimaran IDEC, and Franck Cammas, the man who recently skippered the multihull Groupama 3 around the planet to earn the much coveted Jules Verne (fastest boat around the world) trophy, are just two of this star studded fleet. Meeting them on the course are Michel Desjoyeaux, the fastest solo sailor around the world in a monohull sailboat, and Thomas Coville, who holds numerous singlehanded sailing records himself on his spectacular boat Sodeb’O, including a solo record for fastest across the Atlantic. Joining these sailing giants in this yacht race to Guadeloupe are 81 other sailors, including  … Details & Pictures
Sailing from Saint Malo, France at the Route du Rhum start
The 2010 Luderitz Speed Challenge is over and records kept falling until the last minute. Despite a dropping wind, the water channel was perfect for a few speed improvements.
Stefan Metzger improved his Namibian record with 49.28 knots.
Zsolt Lenkei bettered his Hungarian record with 43.65 knots.
Also, Morgan Douglas and Jamie Douglas improved their personal best records to 49.69 and 49.46 knots … Details
Voyaging Canoe Hokulea
Hokuleʻa is a replica of a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe (waʻa kaulua). It was built by the Polynesian Voyaging Society to promote the cultural revitalization of Hawaiians, and support the theory of Polynesians as masterful navigators in the Pacific. A year after Hokuleʻa was launched in 1975, she voyaged from Hawaii to Tahiti and back without the use of modern navigational instruments. Since that voyage, Hokuleʻa has completed nine more voyages to Micronesia, Polynesia, Japan, Canada, and the United States, all using ancient wayfinding techniques of celestial navigation.
To simulate a voyaging canoe in shape, weight, and performance, archaeologists, maritime historians, and anthropologists collaborated on the design. HokuleÊ»a has … Details