Giant 'hamster wheel' Irish Sea challenge

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Atheist-Lite
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Giant 'hamster wheel' Irish Sea challenge

Post by Atheist-Lite » Tue Sep 25, 2012 6:16 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-19543541

Giant 'hamster wheel' Irish Sea challenge

A Wiltshire engineer is planning to walk non-stop across the Irish Sea in a giant hamster wheel.

Chris Todd, from Bromham, will tackle the 66-mile (106km) stretch of open water by walking for up to 48 hours in a hand-made paddlewheel raft.

The endurance challenge, planned for next month, is to raise funds for the Wiltshire Blind Association and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

Mr Todd said it was "on the very edge of what I believe is possible".

The "Tredalo", powered by walking inside a large steel paddle wheel, was hand-crafted by Mr Todd in his back garden.

It took just under a year to build and can handle waves of up to 3ft (1m).

'Running 10 marathons'

"I've tested it on lakes and in the sea but that has only been for a couple of hours, which is totally different to a couple of days," said Mr Todd.

"But the only way we are going to know if it will stand up to the battering from the waves is to actually do it."

Launching the raft at Trearddur Bay, near Holyhead, the 35-year-old is hoping to reach the east coast of Ireland in just under two days.

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Re: Giant 'hamster wheel' Irish Sea challenge

Post by JimC » Wed Sep 26, 2012 2:14 am

"can handle waves of up to 3ft (1m)."
I rather suspect the Irish Sea can do much better than that...

One hopes he has got a quick exit plan...
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Re: Giant 'hamster wheel' Irish Sea challenge

Post by klr » Wed Sep 26, 2012 11:07 am

...
The endurance challenge, planned for next month, is to raise funds for the Wiltshire Blind Association and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
...
That's somehow appropriate, since he's likely to need RNLI assistance at some point. :what:
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Re: Giant 'hamster wheel' Irish Sea challenge

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Wed Sep 26, 2012 11:17 am

He rather ignores the fact that he will have to generate power to propel himself and his craft across that body of water using just the friction of his shoe soles against the craft. Efficiency of (a generous) 50%, so the personal energy expenditure will be like going across both ways.
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Re: Giant 'hamster wheel' Irish Sea challenge

Post by Atheist-Lite » Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:17 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-19870649

Giant 'hamster wheel' Irish Sea challenge is halted

A Wiltshire engineer has had to halt his attempt to walk non-stop across the Irish Sea in a giant hamster wheel.

Chris Todd, from Bromham, set off from Trearddur Bay near Holyhead at around 13:40 BST on Sunday to tackle the 66-mile (106km) stretch of water.

But nine hours into the attempt, his hand-made paddlewheel raft had 'rudder problems' and he had to turn back.

Event co-ordinator Annie Davis, said: "He went a good distance in nine hours and he's shown it can be done."

The "Tredalo", powered by walking inside a large steel paddle wheel, was hand-crafted by Mr Todd in his back garden.

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