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Visually, the most dramatic departure is the 90-ft. bipod mast. Stretching 20% taller than an ordinary mast on a yacht this size, it looks something like a seven-story wishbone straddling the boat. Made of lightweight carbon-fiber, it replaces the familiar -- and bulky -- pole-and-support system midships, for a better airflow onto the mainsail. The height of the newly designed structure allows the boat to carry 25% to 30% more sail for greater speed. Moreover, it is movable and hinged at the deck so that the entire assembly can be raised and lowered...
...will be put up for sale when it reaches Fort Lauderdale, its final destination. But its creators are hopeful that many of the innovations it incorporates can be offered on smaller boats with less imposing price tags. "In the future you'll see bipod masts and carbon-fiber construction all over," says Olaf Harken, co-founder of Wisconsin's Harken Yacht Equipment, the world's second largest manufacturer of boat hardware, and a driving force behind the Procyon. "The benefits are so substantial." Push-button sailing, anyone...
What is made of sleek composite fiber glass and rockets around a track like a wayward cruise missile? Not a race car or a bobsled. No, it's a high-tech chariot powered by two Arabian horses. Welcome to an ancient new sport. "Chariot racing is very fast, very colorful and very exciting," says Jim Hall, an Arabian horse farm owner, who has teamed up with engineer Phil Lawrence to launch Chariots International to promote the sport. The two Michigan natives spent the past year developing eight 350-lb., $6,000 chariots. In late September, professional harness drivers raced four...
...provider of telecommunications services. Last year a software glitch at a New York City switching center disrupted AT&T's nationwide network for seven hours, and last January a repair crew in Newark shut down service to millions of consumers and businesses when workers accidentally cut a high-capacity fiber-optic phone cable. Last week's misadventure will not enhance AT&T's reputation for reliability and could persuade some customers to farm out more business to the company's rivals MCI and Sprint...
Mountain bikes, also known as all-terrain bikes (ATBs), borrow sophisticated metal alloys, titanium lugs, carbon-fiber tubing and other materials from the aerospace industry for lightweight strength. Average weight: 28 lbs., vs. 20 lbs. for a far more fragile touring bike. Perhaps most important, ATBs feature flat handlebars for upright seating and thick tires that take to sand and gravel as easily as to pavement. While these features have practical appeal for rough-riding wilderness cyclists, the changes also take the hassle out of bike riding for ordinary pedal pushers who never stray more than a mile...