Revolutionizing transoceanic navigation:
In the early 1700s, John Harrison invented a remarkable and revolutionary device – a clock – that a ship could carry to accurately calculate longitude. He called his clock the H-1, and its invention puts Harrison in the pantheon of the world’s greatest inventors.
The inability to calculate longitude had led to countless shipwrecks over the prior centuries as sailing technology had enabled increasingly ambitious transoceanic trading voyages. These wrecks ended countless lives and destroyed untold fortunes, so much so that in 1707 the English Parliament offered a prize of £20,000, an enormous sum in that era, to anyone who could solve the longitude problem.
By 1737, the remar…
Full Article: Scuttlebutt Sailing News – Revolutionizing transoceanic navigation, Editor
Volvo Ocean Race: Go for the wind:
(January 11, 2018; Leg 4; Day 10) – When the Volvo Ocean Race fleet left Melbourne, their mission was to compete on a 5,600 nm course to Hong Kong. But after four days in the Doldrums, the teams are now in 100 nm race to the tradewinds. Don’t believe the rankings until then.
Anyone who has sailed dinghies on a lake know that when given the choice between drifting toward the next mark, or significantly angling away to go for solid wind, you go for the wind. You always go for the wind.
It’s no secret the northeasterly trades are due north, and no team has executed that plan as well as Vestas 11th Hour Racing. While they may not be the closest team to Hong Kong, which is to the…
Full Article: Scuttlebutt Sailing News – Volvo Ocean Race: Go for the wind, Editor
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