Posted on 11/26/2012 12:29:53 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
London, Nov. 26 (ANI): A retired NATO scientist is all set to launch his toy boat on its first unmanned trip across the Atlantic.
The creator, 65-year-old Robin Lovelock, has spent four years developing a craft he believes can survive the 6,000-mile journey. The boat, named Snoopy Sloop, is 4 feet long, weighs just 30lbs and is held together in parts by bathroom light cord, reports the Telegraph.
The boat has already demonstrated its endurance, having completed more than 5,000 miles during seven months of continuous sailing, albeit on the gentler waters of Bray Lake, just off the M4 motorway near Windsor.
Lovelock built the boat using off-the-shelf parts that he bought from the internet at a cost of less than 450 pounds. A tracking device will emit a signal every hour to update Lovelock back home about the boat's progress. The boat will be powered by the wind, but navigated by a solar-powered computer and GPS system.
These will control the rudder and steer the boat on a preprogrammed route along the Channel, then south towards the Azores to catch the trade winds to the Bahamas and onwards to land near the spot where the Pilgrim Fathers came ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Lovelock's attempt is being made as part of an international contest, the Microtransat Challenge, to become the first to send an unmanned from south of Ireland to the Bahamas.
So far, three attempts have been made since the transatlantic challenge began in 2010 - two by French academics and one by a team from the University of Aberystwyth.
The small figure of the cartoon character Snoopy on board was installed "as a wind up to academics who take it too seriously".
Lovelock is relaxed about some of the hazards and concerned about others.
"There are certain things to worry about and others not to. The likely problems will be with reliability, and how the navigation system works with the tides. I got hooked about four years ago. I didn't even play with model boats when I was a boy. I sometimes tinker on the boat in the lounge, but am usually banished to the games room by my wife," he said.
“Toy boats” float in bathtubs.
Model or miniature is the proper term.
Stupid journalisps.
Actually, you should be able to at this website for the contest: http://www.microtransat.org/tracking.php
You made me think immediately of the movie "The Flight of the Phoenix" (the first version) and the distinction between toy airplanes and model airplanes.
"Flight of the Phoenix"
“He has too much money and time”
yes obviously he should be spending HIS money on beer and pizza
I am looking up at my ceiling where I have a fully rigged wooden model of the “Bluenose” a famous racing yacht.
I would have build it out of carbon fiber with closed cell rigid foam injected in the hull, Spectra weaved sails with the same for the lines, a way to reel in a small sea anchor for when it really gets rough....OR
A way to flood its compartments by a pump or by compressed air so it can reach a safe underwater depth to be free from dangerous waves and then a timer activates a compressed cartridge to “blow the tanks” like in a sub so it comes back up above the surface.
Arguably I could actually design an all electric propulsion model with not sails but an airfoil instead, prop power when no wind, wind and solar to keep batteries charged.
Actually not such a bad idea, the right size I could surmise is under 6 feet or 2 meters, that is for optimum strength without getting too heavy. But a semi submersible with a retractable air foil mast is my idea.
Very cool. As long as it doesn’t get tangled up in something (unlikely) it should make the trip as planned. Storms might throw it backward or off course, but when the waves subside, it will get back on course and carry on.
Solar panels are perfect for this app.
Mine is a solid wood hull fully rigged model, its about a yard long, just a nice looking model I think that was made in South Korea. I have a plank on frame kit of the ship, much smaller but more detailed, been sitting on a shelf for years.
I spend too much time lurking at FR to work on my models, I really need to just turn off the puter and enjoy life.
Bump!
A little boat like this won’t be hurt by waves. It will be like a bobbing cork in rough seas. The lines, masts and sails will be far stronger than they need to be, given the small size of the mast and sails.
The biggest risk is getting tumbled into sargassum weed or other floating debris. I assume the keel and rudder are made to glide over seaweed without snagging. That could be a show stopper. But wind and waves won’t kill this thing. Send it backwards for a while, yes, but not destroy it.
But if it gets tumbled up in waves, and wraps some seaweed or netting etc around the mast, it’s game over.
I was thinking the same thing. Flight of the Pheonix.
Retractable telescopic mast? no lines to snag, might have to have a sensor to transmit if its become too top heavy or a vid camera, then the mast simply pulls itself down through the hull, actually it could go right through the hull in its own channel. Carbon fiber golf club shaft or titanium with a carbon fiber wrap? Not big enough to need lines, nut I would researched into an airfoil instead of sails like what Jacques Cousteau used.
He's retired, he's using his own money, and the equivalent of $720 dollars over 4 years is not a lot of money for a hobby that brings one enjoyment and satisfaction.
Too complex, too many moving parts to fail, not necessary. The sail, mast and rig will be far stronger already than it needs to be. In big waves and wind it will just heel over and lay flat, or even roll and tumble, it won’t matter. It is self-righting and unsinkable.
Shoot, millions of us spend more than $720 for our umpteenth firearm, shoot it a couple times, and shove it in a safe. This is a way cooler use of $720 than that.
Self righting and unsinkable?
Don’tcha wish the bigger stuff was like that? I saw an auction for an ex Coast Guard training vessel thats designed to roll completely and come upright, I saw a video of one used I think just off the coast in Oregon, massive breakers there. They had the engine mounted very securely and able to run upside down, must have been a Detroit.
Things get easier at smaller sizes. It’s the same reason why the tiny quad rotor R/C helicopters are so agile. Less inertia, smaller forces. A hurricane won’t blow out the sails on this thing, just tumble it around for a while.
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