| May 2007 |
North by Northwest |
| To reach the High Arctic, a Canadian coast guard icebreaker needs nearly 13 000 kW, six diesel-electric engines and one slippery coat of paint. |
You never forget the first time your ship strikes a slab of ice 2 metres thick: the jolt rips me out of a dead sleep at 1 am and sends me scrambling from my bunk. As the vessel shudders and... |more| |
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| April 2007 |
Wave dancer |
| Meet a flexible, spider-like powered catamaran that uses springs and shock absorbers to skip across the waves. They call it WAM-V (Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel) – and it has all the moves |
Naval architects and assorted visionaries have conjured up some astonishing watercraft over the years, some of them destined for military or civilian superstardom and others consigned to the... |more| |
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Living the sweet life |
| Up the creek with a paddle |
Here’s a little-known fact about people who mess about in boats: some of them indulge their passion under (gulp) financial restraints. In fact, more jaundiced members of the fraternity have been... |more| |
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| March 2007 |
The science of surfing |
| Sitting on your board, you look behind you and spot an oncoming wave. Your eyes, brain and body have learned to judge the timing so you can catch that wave and ride it. |
You paddle hard, then feel the acceleration as the onrushing mass of water boosts you to its speed. Then you stand in balance on the board and savour the forces on your body as you crank off some... |more| |
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Anatomy of a hit |
| Researchers are using new tools to study the science of an American football fundamental: The tackle |
It happens about 100 times a game in America’s National Football League: a bone-jarring tackle that slams a player to the turf. On the play shown in the photo on the left, Seattle Seahawks... |more| |
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| February 2007 |
Hands up! |
| While hanging from Fairview Dome, a rock-climbing physicist contemplates the mechanics of his hands |
I was shivering in the pre-dawn cold at the base of a 300 m granite wall in Yosemite National Park, USA. My palms were wet with nervous sweat. In a few minutes I was going to start climbing the wall,... |more| |
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Colour them turquoise! |
| South African team sets the fair play benchmark in Thailand’s gruelling offshore race |
Cops do it all the time. It’s the raison d’etre of any self-respecting guerrilla. But, what’s the connection with an inflatable boat race off the coast of Thailand? We’re talking... |more| |
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Mellow cruising in a modern classic |
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Relaxing on the water has to be one of the best ways of dumping accumulated stress and regaining one’s grip on life. It may be connected to the mysteries of feng shui, or perhaps it’s... |more| |
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| January 2007 |
Hit the deck |
| Frontside forces and fakie flight: exploring the physics of skateboarding tricks |
With nothing more than a plank on roller-skate wheels, the sidewalk surfers of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s had a straightforward mission: start at the top of a hill and ride down.The primary... |more| |
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I believe I can fly |
| Designed to capture the transatlantic crossing record, this radical trimaran pushes the limits |
Alain Thébault is a determined man. As the brains and driving force behind one of the world’s fastest and most unusual yachts, he has shouldered the responsibility of creating, refining and testing a... |more| |
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