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Philippe Kahn Successful in Transpac Sailing Record Attempt
Posted by Brian Lam at 1:59 PM on July 30, 2008
Sunday morning, Philippe Kahn of camera phone fame and Richard Clarke successfully finished their double handed record attempt of the Transpac Cup. The sleep deprived two man team survived squall after squall, cuts and bruises, waves the size of small buildings, exploding rigging, and fishing nets wrapped around their keels to arrive from SF to Honolulu in 7 days, 20 hours and 50 minutes. They not only beat the old double handed record by about a full day, but they were the fastest boat to cross the finish line, beating many longer, better crewed boats. [Pegasus, previously]
This is the YachtPlus 40 Signature Series, a 134-foot ship designed by architects Foster + Partners. Unlike other superyachts, this one is not just a stunning rendering, but it's now being constructed in Italy and should be available to buy for a whole load of dollars in September. I would say at least 35 dollars. Even more. According to the manufacturers, its design offers more space than any ship in its class. Loaded with features, the interior looks as good as the exterior. Go ahead and drool.
One place where "if you build it, they will come" doesn't always apply is in military hardware. After constructing two Zumwalt class DD(X) stealth destroyers at US$2.6 billion apiece, the Navy has scrapped its plan to build up the rest of its intended 313-ship fleet--turns out, the demand for a ship whose primary mission is to obliterate large land targets with guided artillery and Tomahawk missiles doesn't suit the smaller-scale anti-terror missions most of the armed forces are currently faced with. Now the Pentagon just has to decide what to do with the almost $1 trillion it just freed up in its budget. I'm sure they'll have no problem with that. [
This cruise ship is called the Whampoa and it is stranded in a gigantic pool in the middle of Hong Kong's largest private housing state: Whampoa Garden. However, this Love Boat is sailing to nowhere: it's just a huge shopping mall full of restaurants, shops, and a hotel, built to look like a cruise ship. Looking at it up close, it really looks like one, down to the metal finish. In Google Maps, you realise how huge this thing is:
A 22 year old British adventurer by the name of Rhys Jones may have made a name for himself as the youngest person to to climb the world's seven highest summits, but he may end up being known as the youngest lunatic to ever drown in a juice carton boat on the Mississippi if his plans for this weekend don't pan out. Actually, the idea was conceived by his father after he received a book about origami. Naturally, his first thought was to build a 12 foot raft with a wooden cabin and a paper hull lined with juice cartons and sail 6,000 kms down one of the most treacherous rivers in the world.
Royal Caribbean's new boat is big. Really big. The "Project Genesis" cruise liner, currently being constructed, will be 43% larger than the Queen Mary II, currently the world's largest ship. 360 metres long and weighing 220,000 tons, it'll be able to carry more people from New Jersey down to the Caribbean than any ship before it.
Looking to zoom through the oceans in a stylish, but also somewhat environmentally friendly, manner? Check out the Czeers MK1 prototype solar speedboat, a 10-metre long rig that manages to pack in 14 square meters of solar panels to power an 80KW electric motor. The MK1 plows through the water at a breakneck 30 knots, using no oil and producing no fumes or engine noise. Hit the jump for a video of the boat in action.
