This video does a fantastic job capturing the feeling of racing a catamaran…on flat water.

It would be awesome to speed along at 30 knts but that is likely to come from wind above 10 knts, which combined with the tide often brings choppy waves to the city front. Are the giant cats foiling? They seem too smooth and too dry in the video — smooth and risk-free like a flight scenes from “How to Train Your Dragon”.

The engineering of these massive AC45 and AC72 catamarans is amazing; it will really push the envelope of sailing risk management. The speed and size puts huge stresses on a very thin and light infrastructure – more than 100 tonnes in multiple points. Another important consideration is what the air and water feels like at 30 knts — imagine sticking your head out the window of a car driving 40 mph in the rain. I remember when the PlayStation skipper (designed by the same person as the America’s Cup boats) said he ran pumps 24 hours a day to evacuate literally tons of water collecting in the reefs of their mainsail from the spray. And, speaking of details, where is the square-top main?

Regardless of fact or fiction, the video is inspiring — every time I watch it I feel the urge to take my miniature America’s Cup boat, the A-Cat, out on the Bay again and get bounced around. (Note: it’s no coincidence that an AC45 looks very much like an International A-Class Catamaran)

It’s definitely a different vision than the carnage from the eXtreme 40 series, but maybe that reflects the difference in racing style between designers Pete Melvin (Americas Cup) and Mitch Booth (eXtreme). Here’s another kind of “flying” when racing catamarans:

Several European countries have banned copper-based paint and several more are monitoring it for toxicity. California’s Senate Committee on Environmental Quality will now consider whether to follow their lead when they hear SB 623 [Kehoe] on Monday, May 2.

SB 623 prohibits the use of copper-based anti-fouling paints on recreational boat hulls. The bill would impose a January 1, 2015 ban on the sale of new boats with copper-based paint, and a January 1, 2019 ban on the use or application of copper-based paint.

Proponents of the bill say the recreational industry hurts itself by relying on a toxicity model. Copper-based paint is considered effective because it kills marine life, which is not only harmful in an obvious way but it encourages resistant strains of fouling that can further degrade marine life. They propose the industry switch to a non-toxic model. The money spent could stimulate innovation in technology and therefore significantly reduce long-term costs to boat owners by preserving the health of marine life for the recreational water industry.

Opponents to the bill argue that they are unable to find alternatives as inexpensive, effective and convenient as toxic paint that they are familiar with. These same opponents do not offer to bear the cost of the clean up from toxic paints, so from the start they do not offer a balanced view of total expenses. The toxic paints are thus considered by them as inexpensive and convenient because they do not account for clean up costs — testing, monitoring and preserving marine health.

The University of California Cooperative Extension Coastal Resources offered the following documentary in 2003 with an overview of the issues including the numerous non-toxic alternatives that have been available for more than five years:

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As I wrote in 2007, nature already has many examples of innovation around anti-fouling in the water. Dolphin-skin paint was introduced to the International A-Class Catamaran fleet, for example. This bill offers an interesting look at the reasons to move away from primitive toxicity as a control/countermeasure and towards a more holistic risk management model.

The recent announcement of a recreational ultralight aircraft in Europe called FlyNano has raised some concerns about safety. Critics doubt whether the “Harley of the Sky” can really avoid a pilot license requirement just because of its weight.

It is in truth more of a flying jet-ski than a motorbike, since it can only land on water, but its unique quality is its weight – at just under 70 kilos (154 pounds), it beats certain international regulations for license-only aircraft. This could potentially make it the ideal option for the recreational flyer who lacks the means to get a full pilot’s license.

Unlicensed inexpensive planes that take-off and land on water? I can see half of Tiburon trying to commute to San Francisco with these across complex shipping lanes and weather patterns. What could go wrong? Perhaps if it really takes off (pun not intended) in popularity they should rename it the jet-flea.