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The Last Great Human-Powered Challenge - Breaching

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 90 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
To erase this deficit, I've spawned some internet bots to post on Deeperblue in my name precisely just outside the minimum time limit rule that the forum is set to for spam prevention.

I expect my posts to outnumber Fondueset's by noon tomorrow.

And, no doubt, the quality of said posts will be astonishing.

I vow to breach with a vertical launch that clears the fin's trailing edge without any somersaulting shenanigans by Aug 1st of next year. I've started a diet of 10 Liters of raw milk straight from the cow per day with blackstrap molasses for flavor, all so I can pack on the girth in muscle around my core needed to launch into the stratosphere.

Plus, I'm becoming a cone head. Which ought to help.

But seriously, I'm seriously considering this.
 
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A very nice performance in that video. And yes, it is here already.

In openwater it is easier to do (not easy in any case...) than in a pool, because you have longer distance to speed up vertically.

I've seen a live case here in a pool. An ex worldclass finswimmer made it in a pool vertically, it was 4 m deep pool and he got fully out of water. Not so high than in that openwater video. He has so big muscels in legs (and elsewhere) that he has difficulties to find suitable trousers and other clothes, especially when he was a active finswimmer. He uses very hard monofin blades, because he was a short distance specialist (about 8 seconds/25m).
 
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with the fins that currently exist, humans are most likely close to their limit. the next step will most likely come from a fin with the right design for breaching.
the Lunocet was meant to be it...
 
The more recent iterations of the lunocet appear to have gotten away from breaching as a design criteria. The first lunocet was reasonably good vertically (when swimming upward) - it bit hard into the water and was a bit like climbing a flight of stairs - unfortunately it also had tremendous drag and was too buoyant, making it exhausting to swim with in all other dimensions. The later iteration that I tested had gotten away from the large, rigid surface area of the original. It was better to swim with but also lacked power when compared to traditional free diving fins. Dave Mullins tested this model also and found it's performance comparable to a pair of duck fins.

Ted has since gone with a thinner, longer and less-wide foil - more similar to that on the proven Dol-fin Orca - though with angled blades. I've not had the opportunity to test this latest model but, while it looks like it may have improved overall performance, I doubt it would match a sprint-stiffness mono fin in the vertical.
 
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what style of monofin would one consider best for this application (very short burst of speed) ?
things that come to mind would be :
obviously super super stiff blade
footpockets that allow the highest transmission of power to the blade (more "flyer" than "glide" style)
low drag and somewhat reduced blade surface
any other ideas ?
 
In the existing pantheon of mono fins I think your basic hyper style sprint fin would be the way to go. I'm sure it could by done with a 'flyer' or simple fin as well. A stiff blade and huge thighs.
 
Re: Adventures in Breaching

Hello Breachers,

Went to the pool today and tried several different fins (all bis). Lifeguard says I'm now getting up to my thighs. Probably a combination of practice and the fins. The best bifins today were a pair of standard Force Fins (the diving ones, not the swimming ones, which I also have).

Still have that very tight space to work with, basically only 1-2 kicks before the surface. Plus the double-arm-sweep just at the end. I think the rules have to allow for this. Arms, legs... no difference in my book. I think I'll try putting swim paddles on my hands next time. Sort of like fins for the arms.

Tried to do a lane line jump, but couldn't get the hang of it. Plus the lifeguards were yelling at me to "stay off the lane lines!" Maybe I'll rig up an adjustable bar setup that I can put between and perpendicular to the lane lines.

H

Breaching with forearm fins might be do-able, synchronized perfectly with legs.
 
ouch.

Why not human-powered helicopter breach? 1 minute @ 1 m

Gamera 2
The vehicle is an improved version of Gamera I, which last year set world records for flight duration. Like Gamera I, Gamera II is an enormous hand- and pedal-powered X-shaped vehicle that has four rotors and is 103 feet across diagonally. But Gamera II weighs only 71 pounds, an amazing 35 pounds lighter than the previous vehicle, and features enhanced rotor design, an improved transmission and a redesigned cockpit. The team expects that Gamera II is capable of flights lasting longer than 60 seconds, a major step towards competing for the Sikorsky Prize and remaining ahead of competitors. Learn more about Gamera II here: Gamera 2, AGRC, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland

Read more here: Clark School Team to Fly New Gamera II Human-Powered Helicopter - PR Newswire - The Sacramento Bee
 
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