Human Powered Boat

girls are doing it. francaise Maud Fontenoy rowed in 2.5 month 4300 m in her 7.5 by 1.6 mtr rowboat the great ocean from east to west as first woman. (in 93 she allreay did the atlantivc) planty info of her on the net and more at http://www.oceanrowing.com/

 

Human Power

Yipster,

What an amazing website and amazing people!
What can be achieved with "Human Power" is impressive -Maybe our species is not that weak after all...

Yoav

 

I find it difficult to believe any motor ,generator and equipment is worth a free ride compared to food, water and pain killers. It could turnout that a completly retractable propellor for rough days and the oars for calm days is very good . That way you spread wear and tear of your body over longer time periods. If one part of you or the boat breaks, you can run on the other setup till you recover. This is a forced march of your mind and body. Not a R & D trip.

 

The chain and sprockets are wear prone. Calculate # of hours you need them to run EFFICIENTLY and run the exact same parts 4 X as long in a accelerated test with a electric motor turning a prop in large tank that allows loading everything. 10 X as fast should be safe for wear and heating of parts. Learn how to do chain repairs with hands that are numb from being in 50 degree water. YOU take the place of the motor. Develop yourself and test it.------------------------Oar lock needs to be of sealed 3 axis type to allow you to change the amount of rotation of the oars and the muscles being used over time. They should be perfectly balanced to rest at the level you find most benifical. The risk of a Carpal Tunnel injury is high due to all those repitions. Life support in a hurricane is totaly out of my area. Carry a satallite distress SOS ON YOUR person at all times. The best of training and luck to you.

 

why not use the concept-2 rowing machine and connect the shaft with the airpropeller. switch the airpropeller for a flywheel
and so you are able to use your whole body instead of only your legs
and a 'comfortable' position rather than on a type of bicycle

carel reuser

 

The test tank will need a set of baffles installed to create enough back pressure or load to equal actual ocean conditions.--------Old mind takes longer.

 

Bring a single person mil-spec style liferaft! Light weight and good to have, especially in the shark-prone pacific and the cold as hell (ok then...) atlantic. It's 10 pounds. Here's the web address: http://www.transaeroinc.com/1-Man.html OR search google for LRU-21, LRU-22, LRU-18 or LRU-16. Also, bring along some sort of goretex or waterproof Tactical Operations drysuit (www.mustangsurvival.com) or you could try a Kokatat Expedition Drysuit ($998, www.nrsweb.com). Regarding survival/safety, whatever I can do to help.

 

Is the object of this competition to pick months when the wind is at your back all the time. Use human power only when you slow to a stop. Deploy the sea anchor when GPS says you are in reverse. Use lung or hand power to inflate mylar air cushions around you in a realy bad storm to prevent being bashed by waves and boat interior during negative G's or using up your arms and not being able to protect your self? Naviagation should be the most important part of the trip. Picking a course that puts you on the circular side of any storm that pushes to your goal is desired. Carefull scrutiny of last 3 years or storm tracks should improve your odds. Luck is very important in trips of this magnitude. You can down load weather in past areas from the National Weather Service. NOAA? Should help you with surface currents and storms during the year. You have a lot of interesting archive work to do. You should have enough wind and water data collected so that if rough weather comes you can say, " I did the best I could from using the past history of a trip in these waters".

 

Sure it is!

 

Bucking horse...

Hello again...

Just got in from a sail - motor hums - rig is perfectly balanced - but HOLY is she a cork in heavy seas - it's like riding a horse that has its balls tied...

Anyway - don't know if this has been posted before - came across it just now - thought it might be interesting to this thread...

Cheers...

See http://www.goals.com/PedalPlanet/history/moksha_design.asp...

This is what I want the main hull of my ME-109 trimaran to look like...

Apart from everything else I would not consider chain at all - toothed timing belts on a tensioner are lighter, stronger, quieter, and easier to store and replace as spares - a tapered double drive cog allows infinite transmission variables aswell - no mechanicals - or derailing mechanisms...

Industry calls these speed controllers - SPECON is one such device...

I will post when I wash the salt out of my hair...

SH.

 

wear and tear in the human powered boat

You are probably right, as less as possible moving and wearing objects. So possibly the best is the oar, in double scull, but what about the wear and tear on the seat and slidings you have to use then?

 

Conic belt drives

Hello...

Below is a static conic belt drive - just a shaped big A belt between to adjustable cones - this one is static (set and lock) - but you can get these (in stainless or aluminum) with hand adjustment wheels and locks - belts can be any length...

Would be a very simple - easy to service variable power transmission - less likely to break in the first place - the aluminum cones are very light weight - we have run these in oily spray service areas without event - I would imagine salt spray to be a good belt dressing really - who knows - just sandblast the inner surfaces of the cones...

Yup...

SH.

 

The Vari-speed drives developes a lot of friction due to the squeezing of the belt sides by the 2 pulleys and their internal pressure spring. It would use up most of the person to overcome the belt drag. Chains or gears for cost and eff.-----------------------Eric's fact that in a ocean wave condition you are not able to keep the boat level is very important. Back to sails or props.

 

Hello...

Hello...

These things run at over 2700 RPM on STAHL folders (printing industry) at 24-7 for 2 to 3 years without fault...

I agree that the basis is friction - but what mechanical system is not based upon friction - maglev - now there we go - a magnetic clutch system ...

NO WAIT - a single ratio belt with variable magnetic clutching - HMMMM....

You can also run these things in any axis - chain tends to go BeeGees if run in a horizontal...

Delete the spring tensioner in the hub and all you have is a two pulley A-belt system - just hand dial it in and lock it - if you have a lab - compare the input to output of the thousand moving parts of a chain against same of a belt and pulley - I don't have a lab...

I would rather drop a spring tensioner and slap on a new belt rather than split and re-rivet some greasy chain in the proposed circumstances...

I would prefer a dry system in salt water over one that necessitates lubrication...

Thats my two dimes - inflation is a female dog...

Cheers...

SH.

 

Awesome boat! Sooooooo cool!