Good engineering matters: A lot
Kevin Cudby
The car-friendly guide to fixing human-made greenhouse emissions.
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Good engineering matters: A lot
One of the clearest memories from my first offshore race was waking up to the sight of deck beams bending and twisting as our raceboat punched its way into a gale. Later on, someone said: "That's what happens when you go sailing on a Janola bottle."
That was way too long ago for me to admit to anything resembling an exact date. You've probably guessed plastic boats hadn't been around all that long. Back then, even the best of them were inferior to high-tech wooden boats.
It's been a couple of decades since we stopped calling plastic racing yachts "Janola bottles." But today, a Jalopnik post revived that long-forgotten memory. It's a video that neatly illustrates how great engineers strike a balance between disparate forces (in this case, physics and economics). Imagine, for example, that the ship in this video is carrying swimming togs to Auckland, at the beginning of December. Watch Heavy Seas Bend And Twist A Giant Ship Like Taffy.
Kevin Cudby is a Wellington-based Freelance Writer and Parametric Modelling Consultant who loves writing about cool new technology. Email him to discuss your requirements: hello {a} kevincudby.com