It’s been a while since we had a new entry in the Notably Nutty arena but I found a good one.  Meet Mr. George Kourounis.  George is a videographer/ photographer who is part of OLN’s (Outdoor Life Network) feature series “Angry Planet“.  He seems to have an innate curiosity that drives him just a little further than most.  Here we see George paddling out on a lake of sulfuric acid with a PH of 0.5 (about that of a typical car battery’s acid)

that’s right, it’s a volcanic lake….of….acid.  Here!, watch it eat an aluminum can!

George suffers from his own nuttiness and the acid from his paddle drips on his pants and burns his skin….he had to cut them off.

In all reality, George probably belongs less in the notably nutty category than most that have been placed here.  He is an admirable person that has talent and goes many places…but still, paddling on an acid lake?  Seriously?  See more about George and his adventures on his website www.Stormchaser.ca

126.1 Mph – a new land sailing speed record set by the Greenbird Project crushing the previous 116mph record that has stood since 1999 and was set by Bob Schumacher in the Iron Duck! Now that’s quick.

PS – no news about the America’s Cup Ruling yet but I’m keeping a vigilent eye open.

We could possibly have a final, final, final ruling from the New York State Court of Appeals today with regards to the America’s Cup….stay tuned.

Oh, this is a goodie….well done.  Great soundtrack, good editing, great angles, and good action….and Ronald, thanks for the helmet.  This gets an A++!   Be sure to hang in there for the “deleted scenes” at the end.

How Not To Sail from Frankfurter Sam on Vimeo.

Caught flying off the coast of Spain is the new(ish) Banque Populaire G-class Trimaran.  They’ve been waiting some time for a good weather window to launch their attempt at the Route of Discovery Record (the path of Christopher Columbus).  In absence of the good weather, they went out for an afternoon sail.  Wow…what a speed demon.  Report and video courtesy of Valenciasailing

I had a conversation with Mike (from Zhik – a company that manufacturers some of the greatest specialty sailing gear I’ve ever worn) this past weekend and he pointed me to a blog on the USACA site (US A-Catamaran Association).  Tony Arends, aka “Racer-X” is home building an a-cat of his own design and is chronicaling the process.  It’s pretty neat stuff and after catching up and watching the details of his build so far, I think this is doable!  Check it out.

(not on this lake…but it looks like fun) … Have a good weekend!  I’ll be back on Monday….

Make sure you have your sound up to listen to this one. It makes it all worthwhile….PITCHPOLE THURSDAY!

I’m a big fan of do-it-yourselfers and it’s no secret I like the water. Here’s another blog about building a composite, modern, 20 foot trimaran from scratch. I love the idea of this boat and would consider building one myself…that is…if only I too had a Man Shed.

AAAccckkkk! They’ve taken to the skies!

Second edition and I already missed Thursday!  Well, better late than never.  I’ve actually been the guy swiging around the front of one of these tiny little misunderstood boats.  Unlike the catamarans we typically race, this type of boat does not go quite fast enough for a 180lb man to be thrown clear…the kid here was fortunate he was a little lighter!

It’s waaaaaayyyy cool…but what a hard way to make 6 horse power (with a functional supercharger too!).  6.09 cubic inches (almost 100cc).  More at http://www.conleyprecision.com/609.htm

I’m not sure I can keep this up, but we’ll try to have a pitchpole feature every Thursday. Here’s the first of the installments.

karl says:
March 4th, 2009 at 10:46 am

Holy Crap!!!!!! You’ve updated your blog. What took you so long?

Yes, yes…I know.  I had a period there where I put a lot of time and effort into my career (yes, I have a day job) and expanded/invested in the home business my wife and I run.  That’s settling down a little now and I felt it was time to get back in here…who knows!, I might even get to that “shooting gelcoat” part 2 soon now that teamseacts.com is syndicated now.