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Solar Boat To Cross the Atlantic
Roland Piquepaille writes, "A group from Switzerland will soon attempt the first Atlantic crossing in a solar-powered boat. This ship, named SUN21, is a 14-meter-long catamaran able to sleep 5 or 6 persons. The goal is to leave Seville, Spain, in December 2006 and to reach ports in Florida and New York in the spring of 2007. This boat will achieve its 7,000-mile trip at a speed of 5-6 knots, about the speed of a sailing yacht, by using photovoltaic cells and without burning a single gallon of fuel. The consortium behind this project wants to demonstrate that the time has come for solar boats." The boat will cost about $556,000 to build and it will be for sale at some point after its crossing.
Finally, an alternative to the environmentally dangerous effects of the sail.
The performance and fuel-efficiency of sails, at a price that's a mere order of magnitude higher! Sure, it might seem pointless now, but when our reserves of fossil sails are exhausted, these guys are going to have the last laugh.
3.82798 liters.
Anything else you need to know?
Voice Over Mr. and Mrs. Watson of 'Ivy Cottage', Worplesdon Road, Hull, chose a very cunning way of not being seen. When we called at their house, we found that they had gone away on two weeks holiday. They had not left any forwading address, and they had bolted and barred the house to prevent us getting in. However a neighbour told us where there were.
...(ditto) and of course here.....(a series of quick cuts of various atom bombs and hydrogen bomb at moment of impact) and Manchester and the West Midlands, Spain, China ...(mad laugh)
The camera has come to rest on a very obvious isolated beach hut; it blows up. Cut to a building site in a suburban housing estate. There is a Gumby standing there.
Voice Over And here is the neighbour who told us where they were (he blows up) Nobody likes a clever dick. (cut to stock film of a small house) Here is where he lived (it blows up) And this is where Lord Langdon lived who refused to speak to us (it blows up). So did the gentleman who lived here....(shot of house: it blows up)... and here
Cut to a presentation desk. The film is on a screen behind. We see it stop behind him as the presenter speaks.
Presenter Ah, well I'm afraid we have to stop the film there, as some of the scenes which followed were of a violent nature which might have proved distressing to some of our viewers. Though not to me, I can tell you.
(cut to another camera; the presenter turns to face it,)
In Nova Scotia today, Mr Roy Bent of North Walsham in Norfolk became the first man to cross the Atlantic on a tricycle. His tricycle, specially adapted for the crossing, was ninety feet long, with a protective steel hull, three funnels, seventeen first-class cabins and a radar scanner. (A head and shoulders picture of Roy Bent comes up on the screen behind him) Mr Bent is in our Durham studios, which is rather unfortunate as we're all down here in London. And in London I have with me Mr Ludovic Grayson, the man who scored all six goals in Arsenal's 1-0 victory over the Turkish Champions FC Botty. (he turns) Ludovic... (pull out to reveal that he is talking to a five-foot-high filing cabinet) first of all, congratulations on the victory.
Mr Grayson (from inside filing cabinet) Thank you, David.
Anyway, very silly stuff, you get the point.
http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/episode24.htm#11
-- Note: If you don't agree with me, don't bother replying. I won't read it.
And all the steamships with coal-fired plants.
No statement is true, not even this one.
But on TV, the Vikings row their boats.
What?
And all the sail boats, that go back to 14th sentury.
Think about it, the one drawback to using sails is that you have to sail with the wind. If the wind dies, you just drift. This solar boat is going to suck because what if there's a catastrophic storm that blots out the sun for days? Overcast skies + Solar Panels = Mutiny on the Geocruiser.