Will This Powerboat Break The World Record By Sailing From Cornwall To New York On A Single Tank Of Fuel?

A group of British engineers is building a boat capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean between Cornwall and New York in just 48 hours. The design (illustrated in a CGI image) will make the crossing with an average speed of (105km/h), beating the current two day, ten hour and 54-minute record for the crossing that has been held since 1992

Daily Mail: Crossing the Atlantic in just 48 HOURS: Wave-piercing powerboat will attempt to break the world record by sailing from Cornwall to New York on a single tank of fuel

* A group of engineers from Team Great Britain has designed a 112ft (34 metre) wave-piercing powerboat
* Led by Richard George, the team will travel from Cornwall in the UK to New York - a total of 3,100 miles (4,988km)
* The vessel will also attempt the journey on a single tank of fuel and it is hoped the boat will one day be capable of carrying passengers as a high-speed ferry
* The current record for the crossing is two days, ten hours and 54 minutes held by Aga Khan's powerboat Destriero

It is a journey that takes even the speediest cruise liners up to a week, but a group of British engineers is hoping to cross the Atlantic by boat in under two days - on a single tank of fuel.
Led by businessman Richard George, the team is building a boat capable of smashing the world record for the 3,100 mile trip (4,988km), yet said it will also be capable of carrying commercial passengers.
The wave-piercing 112ft (34 metre) powerboat, which will have a seven-man crew, will make the trip between Cornwall and New York at an average speed of 65mph (105km/h) in just 48 hours.

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CSN Editor: Before everyone gets excited, they will still have to build and test this powerboat.

Skydiver Aims To Smash World Record

Skydiver Aims To Smash Record, Sound Barrier In 23-Mile Jump -- Playbook/Wired

Later this summer, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner will ascend to 120,000 feet in a pressurized capsule and, wearing only a spacesuit, jump.

As he plummets 23 miles in the highest skydive ever, Baumgartner will become the first person to break the sound barrier in free fall. That’s the plan, anyway. To even attempt this will expose him to many challenges, including the risk that water in his body could vaporize. But one challenge in particular is foremost in everyone’s mind: What happens when Baumgartner encounters the shock waves that invariably occur when something exceeds the speed of sound?

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My Comment: I wish him luck.

Record-Breaking Parachuteless Skydive (Video)

Video: In Record-Breaking Parachuteless Skydive, Man Jumps 2,400 Feet Into a Pile of Boxes -- Popular Science

Gary Connery broke the record today for skydiving sans parachute and also, presumably, took home a gold medal in being a badass. But that wasn’t all: The 42-year-old father-stuntman-crazy-person gave Newton’s First Law one more slap in the face by diving from 2,400 feet above Buckinghamshire, England, and straight into 18,600 cardboard boxes.

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My Comment: I particularly like Gary Connery's remarks on what he was feeling before the jump .... before the leap, Connery, a veteran of 880 sky dives and 450 base jumps, told reporters he was “a bit scared.”

Skydiver Leaps 13 Miles From The Edge Of Space At 354mph

To Infinity And Beyond! Skydiver Leaps 13 Miles From The Edge Of Space At 354mph (And It Takes Him Just 8 Minutes To Hit The Ground) -- Daily Mail/AP

Skydiving daredevil Felix Baumgartner is more than halfway toward his goal of setting a world record for the highest jump.

He's aiming for nearly 23 miles this summer. The record is 19.5 miles.

Mr Baumgartner lifted off Thursday for a test jump from Roswell, New Mexico, aboard a 100-foot helium balloon. He rode inside a pressurized capsule to 71,581 feet - 13.6 miles - and then jumped.

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More News On Skydiving Daredevil Felix Baumgartner Leap From The Edge Of Space

Skydiver passes halfway point in quest to make highest jump -- MSNBC
Test jump from 71,581 feet sets up daredevil's outer-space plunge -- FOX News
Skydiver Makes Test Jump From 13 Miles Up -- Playbook/Wired
Skydiver jumps from 13 miles above Earth in test run for record attempt -- The Guardian
Skydiver Felix Baumgartner on track for super jump -- BBC
Skydiver falls from stratosphere in preparation for 'space jump' -- Christian Science Monitor
Austrian daredevil Baumgartner skydives from 71,581ft -- The Register
Skydiver plans to jump from 23 miles to Earth, breaking sound barrier -- SI.com/AP
Supersonic edge of space base jumper Felix Baumgartner completes Roswell test jump -- The Telegraph
Base jumper and skydiver Felix Baumgartner and his Red Bull Stratos challenge -- The Telegraph (Photo Blog)

British Engineer Blows Away Land Speed Record For Wind-Powered Vehicles After 10-Year Quest

Record-breaker: The Greenbird clocked up 126.1mph

From The Daily Mail:

A British engineer has smashed the land speed record for wind powered vehicles, becoming the fastest naturally powered human on the planet.

Richard Jenkins clocked 126.1mph in his Ecotricity 'Greenbird' powered only by 30mph winds. He eclipsed the previous record of 116 mph, set by American Bob Schumacher ten years ago.

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