.
138
The Last Resource
:
increasingly important. Some indication of what modern computa—
tional and forecasting methods have to offer was demonstrated by
>ïf‘là{
the Victory of Geoffrey Williams in the 1968 Observer single—handed
7,
trans—Atlantic b‘oat‘ race. Sailing the yacht Sir Thomas Lipton,
,
Williams was guided on
mile journey by daily computer
forecasts. In one case, at least, the Computer correctly sent him in
‘
an entirely differentdirection from the one which he would have
taken left to his own devices.
Although Williams found himself becalmed from time to time,
thereis no record of the Sir T lzomas Lipton nding itself lying in
‘dead water’: an effect which gives the sensation of the boat being
‘stuck’, It results from the—presence of internal Waves near the
surface, moving in a direction which canCelS“out
force of «any
light wind. As yet the generation and distribution of internal waves
is only poorly understood. In general, they are…foùnd ru“nning along
the»bdühdài‘y,between layers of water with different densrty They
'
progress very51oW1y and the water particles
in the Opposite direCtion to those below. In thesedaysof p'OWered
craft
off the ÎgripÎ …of1nærnalwaves, surface
waves present the major problem
becomes
increasingly
at any depth
,
might become
.
Tides cmd ïz'dal power
’
»
‘
,
_
The tides owe their existeëëto forces generated beyond the
Earth—the attraction of the ocean Waters by the Sun and the Moon.
Of the two, the Moon plays the major part,
Water
‘
toWards it .« and permitting that farth€5t away to‘ bulge‘ out “!?—from the“
surface:
‘vb‘ulges {oft;water.:on
ofthe
_
Earth
#m0v°e :“:rdünd
pursuit—of? the “apparentlyf
Mooricàusin‘g two «tidés
The Sunaàlso;stirs up two
time to t in
*eXertsîié‘ss
than halfthe …tidal force of the Moon.
When=thëSè two
heavenly-‘ bodies act together as
they
Cause the greatest tidal
at right angles to i0ne another,—
iouegivïing
the smalle"st ftidal
neaptrdes
:gurë; I 5)
“Îï
…
* Although this ‘
the? ispheresæxplaîn‘s‘ itli‘éÎ existence‘fÿ'of
_
the …tide”è,tio”thèr fïfactors
“involved: iÏThe‘iforcesïïbrought
138
The Last Resource
:
increasingly important. Some indication of what modern computa—
tional and forecasting methods have to offer was demonstrated by
>ïf‘là{
the Victory of Geoffrey Williams in the 1968 Observer single—handed
7,
trans—Atlantic b‘oat‘ race. Sailing the yacht Sir Thomas Lipton,
,
Williams was guided on
mile journey by daily computer
forecasts. In one case, at least, the Computer correctly sent him in
‘
an entirely differentdirection from the one which he would have
taken left to his own devices.
Although Williams found himself becalmed from time to time,
thereis no record of the Sir T lzomas Lipton nding itself lying in
‘dead water’: an effect which gives the sensation of the boat being
‘stuck’, It results from the—presence of internal Waves near the
surface, moving in a direction which canCelS“out
force of «any
light wind. As yet the generation and distribution of internal waves
is only poorly understood. In general, they are…foùnd ru“nning along
the»bdühdài‘y,between layers of water with different densrty They
'
progress very51oW1y and the water particles
in the Opposite direCtion to those below. In thesedaysof p'OWered
craft
off the ÎgripÎ …of1nærnalwaves, surface
waves present the major problem
becomes
increasingly
at any depth
,
might become
.
Tides cmd ïz'dal power
’
»
‘
,
_
The tides owe their existeëëto forces generated beyond the
Earth—the attraction of the ocean Waters by the Sun and the Moon.
Of the two, the Moon plays the major part,
Water
‘
toWards it .« and permitting that farth€5t away to‘ bulge‘ out “!?—from the“
surface:
‘vb‘ulges {oft;water.:on
ofthe
_
Earth
#m0v°e :“:rdünd
pursuit—of? the “apparentlyf
Mooricàusin‘g two «tidés
The Sunaàlso;stirs up two
time to t in
*eXertsîié‘ss
than halfthe …tidal force of the Moon.
When=thëSè two
heavenly-‘ bodies act together as
they
Cause the greatest tidal
at right angles to i0ne another,—
iouegivïing
the smalle"st ftidal
neaptrdes
:gurë; I 5)
“Îï
…
* Although this ‘
the? ispheresæxplaîn‘s‘ itli‘éÎ existence‘fÿ'of
_
the …tide”è,tio”thèr fïfactors
“involved: iÏThe‘iforcesïïbrought