December 2010
4 posts
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Wall Street Journal: Immaculate 1907 Raceboat... →
For the past 5 years or so, ABM has been courting the Norris family to donate Atosis, probably the best-preserved pre-1910 racing motor boat in existence. It is a fascinating boat, built like a wood-canvas canoe, with a design thoroughly seated in the semi-displacement theory. Though wide and flat in the stern sections, Atosis is double-ended on deck, a wild shape shared by some other boats from...
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CNN: British company is building sail powered... →
Very interesting enterprise. Considering that bunker-fuel-burning container ships are a leading cause of air pollution, this project is good news. Small ships, though, only 9000 tons, smaller even than some of the largest sail-powered cargo ships of 100 years ago. The rig is an old idea, a configuration called DynaShip designed in the 1970s by a German engineer named Willhelm Prolss. To my...