Marine
Warning: these boards may contain (coco)nuts
By Ben Coxworth
August 15, 2013
A carbon fiber surfboard? Well yeah, you could buy one of those, but ... if that board is intended for use somewhere warm and sunny, then coconut husk fibers would be way more appropriate! As it turns out, they also offer an unmatched strength-to-weight ratio, they come from a natural and renewable source, and require less toxic epoxy resin in their construction. That’s why they’re used in Global Surf Industries’ line of Coco Mat surfboards and paddleboards.
Civilization depends on the Global Positioning System for everything from precision armaments to finding the location of the nearest pizza shop. Indeed, access to GPS's strengths and capabilities has grown so fast that little concern about its weaknesses has penetrated the public consciousness. Fortunately, assistant professor Todd Humphreys' team at the University of Texas at Austin continues to arrange splashy demonstrations of GPS spoofing. His latest is to covertly alter the course of an oceangoing yacht.
Sunreef 80 Carbon Line superyacht hits the water
By Darren Quick
August 9, 2013
Sunreef Yachts’ first luxury catamaran in its new Carbon Line hit the open water for the first time last month and is undergoing sea trials before making its way to the Cannes Boat Show 2013 in mid-September for its world premiere. To reach its lightship weight (the weight of the completed vessel, minus any provisions, supplies or cargo) of 45 tonnes (49 tons), the 80 Levante is made from an advanced composite sandwich that combines vinylester, PVC foam and carbon/glass fiber.
Asap: An electric alternative to the Jet Ski
August 8, 2013
Frankly, what I know about water sports can be written on the dorsal fin of my imaginary surf board (what do you mean they don't have dorsal fins?), but I'm not going to let that stop me telling you a bit about Asap, an electric watercraft which combines elements of Jet Skis, body boards and catamarans.
Radical new icebreaker will travel through the ice sideways
By Ben Coxworth
August 2, 2013
Given that icebreakers clear a path for other ships by traveling through the ice head-on (or sometimes butt-on), then in order for one of them to clear a wider path, it would have to be wider and thus larger overall ... right? Well, Finland’s Arctech Helsinki Shipyard is taking a different, more efficient approach. It’s in the process of building an asymmetric-hulled icebreaker that can increase its frontal area, by making its way through the ice at an angle of up to 30 degrees.
Pedal-powered Tandem gives canoeists some face time
By Ben Coxworth
July 29, 2013
While it can be fun canoeing with another person, there is one problem with the setup of a traditional canoe – the front passenger has to turn around in order to see the back passenger’s face. British engineer Joe Rutland decided to do something about that, so he designed the Tandem canoe. Not only do the two passengers sit facing each other, but instead of paddling the boat, they pedal it.
Volkswagen's caged Beetle Convertible swims with the sharks
By C.C. Weiss
July 26, 2013
A convertible shark cage may be a complete oxymoron, but Volkswagen and partners have built one for Discovery Channel's upcoming Shark Week. More than just a stationary exhibit, the shark cage is a functioning watercraft with impressive capabilities. Gizmag talked to Luke Tipple, the marine biologist, shark diving expert and TV personality responsible for building and driving the craft, to find out more about what it's like to scooter around shark-infested waters in a skeletal Beetle ragtop.
Think it takes more time to build a boat than make a French omelette? Think again. The Quickboat is the first foldable boat we've seen that a team of two can put together in a minute or less. That's insanely fast compared to the build times of other foldable boats we've covered, such as theTransporter (10 minutes) and the Smartkat (20 minutes). In fact, the boat is so easy to construct says Deryck Graham, the Managing Director of Australian company Quickboats, that one person with a beer in hand could assemble one in three minutes even with friends around to distract them.
SAMS wetsuits make surfers look less tasty
By David Szondy
July 19, 2013
Worldwide, around 100 people are attacked by sharks each year. The anxiety this produces isn't helped by the fact that traditional black wetsuits make divers and surfers look like seals, and it’s not a good idea to dress up as a shark’s favorite snack before going into the water. Australian company Shark Attack Mitigation Systems (SAMS) is developing wetsuits designed to deter shark attacks rather than ring the dinner gong by using disruptive patterns that sharks have trouble seeing, or that make them think twice about attacking.
Barnacles may look nice and nautical on things like rocks, but they’re a major problem for watercraft of all sorts. On the hulls of ships, for example, they can drastically decrease the vessel’s hydrodynamics, causing it to burn more fuel and emit more emissions in order to maintain its cruising speed. The most common way of keeping barnacles off those hulls involves the use of environmentally-unfriendly paints. Now, however, a scientist from Sweden’s University of Gothenburg has developed what could be a less harmful alternative.
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