Tag: World of Boating

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2011 Super Boat Race Season Begins!

Super Boat International’s First Race of The 2011 Season • May 18th – 22nd Cocoa Beach, FL

By SBI

KEY WEST, Fla. (April 29, 2011)– Super Boat teams are ready for the season opener, The 2nd Annual Bright House Super Boat Grand Prix in Cocoa Beach, FL. Teams have been getting ready during the winter to compete in what is expected to be one of the best seasons for Super Boat racing. In its second consecutive year at Cocoa Beach, this year’s event is off to a thunderous start.  While Super Boats raced the Space Coast many years ago, it was just 8 months ago (August 2010) that teams converged on Cocoa Beach and raced after a 20-year hiatus.

   Super Boat International is ready to capitalize on what was a very successful event last May in Cocoa Beach. More teams are expected than last year with some of the world’s fastest boats scheduled to race along the sandy beaches near the famous Cocoa Beach Pier. “Last year was a very good first year back and we expect this to be an even more exciting race than before. Coming back only 8 months after our last race here, we are pleased again to see how excited and supportive the community is about Super Boat racing. This is really going to make for a great season opener for 2011,” comments John Carbonell, founder of Super Boat International.

   The entire Cape Canaveral, Cocoa Beach area is excited and making all the preparations necessary for a great event. “We have had so many people call and say they are coming to the Super Boat race. I know this year will be a record crowd. The town is ready, the fans are ready, I’ve heard from the teams… they’re ready, this is just going to be awesome,” comments Kerry Bartlett, Space Coast Super Boat Grand Prix Director. “We have such a great team and many volunteers here putting this together and I just can’t thank them all enough for their support.”

   With the support of SpaceCoastSportsTV and Super Boat International, Cocoa Beach fans unable to attend can follow Sunday’s activities on superboat.com and watch it through the live streaming broadcast. Super Boat International is broadcasting the entire 2011 season online through live streaming and can be found at superboat.com/live-tv on the day of the race.

   While the 2011 schedule was released earlier this spring, SBI has announced their race schedule through the year 2013 with additional news to follow in the upcoming months. Along with Cocoa Beach, races are scheduled for Miami, Sarasota, Michigan City, New York, Clearwater and the World Championships in Key West, Florida.

   The schedule for next month’s 2nd Annual Bright House Space Coast Grand Prix starts off with a sponsor and VIP party May 18th at the Paradise Cove Restaurant. Teams, boats and support equipment will continue to arrive Thursday, May 19th in the Dry Pits across from Fishlips. Also, Thursday afternoon starting at 3:00 pm, boats will be on display for the “Powerboats on Parade” downtown Cocoa Beach. Friday, May 20th is team registration and boat inspections along with parties and live entertainment in the evening near the pits. Teams will be testing on Saturday from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. The races are on Sunday, May 22nd at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm. Do not be late… teams head out of the pits early straight to the racecourse in preparation for the start of their respective race. Once each race concludes, the race teams return to the pits for inspections. The awards ceremony will be at the VIP stage in the dry pits at 5:00 pm. Race fans, VIP’s and guests are welcome to attend the awards presentation

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Out Of This World: Boating On Uranus!

Boat Would Sail on Saturn Moon's Sea

NASA is looking at sending a probe to explore the methane oceans of Titan.

By Irene Klotz Tue May 10, 2011 07:43 AM ET

Titan boat
Scientists are working on a mission to send a robotic boat to explore an extraterrestrial ocean in hopes of learning about how the building blocks of life began to assemble.

The destination: Titan, the largest moon of Saturn — bigger than Mercury and Pluto — which sports lakes of liquid methane and ethane near its northern polar region.

“We have no expectation of finding living things,” Johns Hopkins University planetary scientist Ralph Lorenz told Discovery News. “But we think the complexity of the organics (on Titan) can lead us to the steps toward life.”

With its rich stew of organic compounds, Titan, which has a thick atmosphere and weather systems, is believed to resemble primordial Earth, despite surface temperatures that hover around minus-290 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Titan is often referred to as a pre-biotic world. It actually has all the sort of building block chemicals that were present on Earth when life evolved. The idea for Titan is that with those very, very cold temperatures and with water being frozen solid, could life actually develop, or is it just too cold so those chemical reactions just can't get going?” project lead scientist Ellen Stofan, with Proxemy Research in Gaithersburg, Md., told Discovery News.

Scientists want to parachute a boat-like probe into the cryogenic seas of Titan for a 96-day mission to identify the moon's complex organic molecules and detail its chemistry. The probe would float like a buoy and drift around Titan's sea propelled by the moon's winds and waves.

The boat, called Titan Mare Explorer, or TiME, would include a camera to take pictures of the lake's surface, which may have ripples, bubbles, films and other features, as well as the moon's orange-hued skies.

“We want to be able to see clouds and storms and rain, so having it be light outside and not dark all day is important,” Stofan said.

Ideally, TiME would be launched between about 2016 and 2018 so that it arrives before the moon's north pole plunges into winter darkness and out of direct radio contact with Earth.

“Once the sun sets below the horizon, Earth is also spending most of its time below the horizon and you'd have to have a relay satellite (for communications) which way drives up the cost of the mission,” Stofan said.

TiME is one of three mission proposals selected by NASA from among 28 contenders to receive $3 million apiece for detailed concept studies. The other candidate missions are a comet probe and a spacecraft to study the interior of Mars.

NASA expects to decide next year which mission will win up to $425 million for development. The U.S. space agency also will provide a launch vehicle for the selected probe to reach its destination.

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What Were You Doing When You Were Eight Years Old?

Young sailor hailed a hero for saving girl from sea

12:00pm Friday 29th April 2011

A YOUNG sailor has been hailed a hero, aged only eight, after rescuing a girl of five who fell into the sea off a kayak.

When Thomas Goodsell, of Colne Road, Brightlingsea, saw the girl clinging to the kayak, he jumped off his sailing boat and swam to save her.

The young lifesaver grabbed her and swam her to shore, where her relieved parents were waiting.

His mum, Nicky Henderson, said: “There were three children in the kayak and the little girl fell out.

“Thomas was in a sailing boat and saw her struggling. I whistled to him to get his attention and he jumped into the sea and brought her in, out of the water.

“He did not question it or think, but just acted. I am really proud of him.”

The children were enjoying the warm weather on Saturday, near Brightlingsea Sailing Club.

Ms Henderson said: “The girl is fine. Everyone was watching, but he is a very energetic child and a strong swimmer. He was about 20ft away, but he jumped in and when he reached her, he managed to pick her up and swam her ashore.

“The little girl’s mother was really pleased. Others just froze, but Thomas went straight in.”

The family recently returned from living in Valencia, Spain, and were enjoying the long weekend at their beach hut near the sailing club.

Children had been sailing all week and the kayaking proved a popular attraction.

Ms Henderson said: “They were all wearing lifejackets, but she was struggling and with the kayak bouncing, it could have hit her on the head.

“Everyone was grateful they are all fine.”

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Ellison-2 San Francisco-0

City Frets Over America's Cup

Friday, Apr 29, 2011 | Updated 11:34 AM PDT

There's a lot of logistics to figure out before the America's Cup finally hits in 2013, and if you've got any ideas the City would love to hear them.

San Francisco officials held a public meeting this week to discuss plans and ask citizens to help find solutions to various challenges.

At the top of many peoples' minds is the impact of the race to the environment. An environmental study is currently being rushed along at a breakneck pace, but numerous concerns have already been raised.

For example, the demolishing of piers along the edge of the city could release an invasive underwater weed, causing it to spread around the bay and choke out native flora.

At the meeting, speakers also addressed concerns that the race would get in the way of events at AT&T park, according to the Ex.

And then there's the “People Plan,” than ambitious blueprint for moving the throngs across the city. That plan calls for sweeping changes to various transit lines, and possibly even the extension of the F line all the way to Fort Mason.

Although such measures will likely be expensive, the America's Cup provides a unique opportunity to pursue funding that would never otherwise have been available. Corporate sponsors are eager to attach themselves to the race.

If you'd like to participate in the brainstorming around the event, visit www.americascup.com/sanfrancisco and send comments to americascup@sfgov.org.