SailGP – a revolution in yacht racing

In SailGP, five-member crews representing six countries race identical F50 foiling catamarans in the world’s most famous harbours. Complex control systems and high-end carbon-fibre materials, combined with supreme teamwork and athleticism, enable the boats to skim the water at exhilarating speeds. Australia won the inaugural SailGP title in 2019. After topping the table through five regattas, the team helmed by Tom Slingsby then beat Japan in the deciding match race in Marseille. Rolex is the Presenting Partner and Official Timepiece of SailGP, enhancing a partnership with yachting that dates back more than 60 years. Discover more https://on.rolex.com/36KGcbA
Rolex has always associated with activities driven by passion, excellence, precision and team spirit. It naturally gravitated towards the elite world of yachting six decades ago and today supports the most prestigious clubs, races and regattas. The brand is Title Sponsor of 15 major international events – from leading offshore races, such as the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race, to grand prix competition at the Rolex TP52 World Championship and spectacular gatherings at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup. It also supports the exciting new SailGP series, where national teams race in supercharged F50 catamarans on some of the world’s most famous harbours. Rolex’s partnerships with the likes of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, New York Yacht Club and Royal Yacht Squadron are the foundation of its enduring relationship with this dynamic sport.
#Rolex #SailGP #Perpetual

Ashley Chapman Sets Two New U.S. National Freediving Records

 

Ashley Futral Chapman (photo credit: Ren Chapman)

American Freediver Ashley Futral Chapman this past week set a pair of Women’s National Freediving Records in Roatan, Honduras.

Ashley set a new Constant Weight (CWT) with Bifins record under AIDA International rules on May 18th with a dive to 76 meters/249 feet, beating Enchante Gallardo’s 75-meter/246-foot dive from last month.

A few days later, Ashley set a CWT with monofin U.S. record with a dive to to 86 meters/282 feet.

Other records that have been set recently in Roatan include Richard Collett for his Cayman Islands men’s Constant Weight with Bi-fins national record dive to 55 meters/180 feet, and Sayuri Kinoshita for her Japan women’s national record dive of 85 meters/279 feet in the same discipline.

By John Liang, News Editor at DeeperBlue.com

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For two Chesapeake Watermen, there’s just one way to harvest wild oysters: Dive for them.

Washington Post March 4, 2019

The day dawns bright and clear, with a biting freeze that clamps to any exposed skin within minutes outside. If it’s this cold on their dock in Wittman, Md., Nick Hargrove and Derek Wilson know it’s going to be even harder on the water, where water and tributaries might be frozen in some parts, and there’s a bay, wide and flat, that can welcome a weather change in minutes.

These oysters require no shucking knife. But the process has a catch.

It’s winter on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay — far from the white sails of recreational boating and sparkling water reflected in day-tripper sunglasses — and that means it’s oyster season for these two watermen of Wild Divers Oyster . The bay has a different tone this time of year, when it’s human against the elements, wind whipping across bows, and the two men, friends since sixth grade, don’t need many words to express their apprehension to the day ahead. That apprehension is part of the job, since Wilson must spend hours under the water, handpicking oysters from the bay’s murky bottom while Hargrove maneuvers the boat, monitors the cord that connects Wilson to it (and to air, light and warm water), and sorts oysters for the day’s haul.

They are watermen just like many in their community before them, but regulations, changing water quality and conditions, and the rise of aquaculture provide new challenges. The two men are building a decidedly modern business on the foundation of a traditional Chesapeake oyster plucked right from the bottom, and area chefs are beginning to notice.

Hawaii-born Jason Momoa makes a splash on "Aquaman" movie

It’s fitting that Jason Momoa is catapulting to international stardom in a movie titled “Aquaman.”

Like the comic book superhero he portrays in the Warner Bros. DC Extended Universe blockbuster that opens here Friday, the Hawaii-born actor is a true waterman who learned the ways of the ocean from his ohana and a close-knit network of mentors.

Also like his half-human, big-screen alter ego, Momoa, 39, is a product of two distinct and vastly different cultures.  Read More 

First genetic adaptation to diving discovered in 'Sea Nomads'

Researchers have discovered the first evidence that people can genetically adapt to deep diving, as shown by the unusually large spleens in indigenous people of Indonesia known as the "Sea Nomads," a study said Thursday.

The spear-fishing Bajau people regularly free-dive to depths of up to 230 feet (70 meters), with only weights and a wooden mask.

They spend up to 60 percent of their work day diving for fish, spearing octopus and gathering crustaceans -- an amount of time rivaled only by sea otters -- and can stay underwater up to 13 minutes at a time, said the report in the journal Cell.

Intrigued by this unusual ability, American researcher Melissa Ilardo, then a post doctoral candidate at the Centre for GeoGenetics at the University of Copenhagen, wondered if they had genetically adapted somehow to be able to spend more time underwater than other people.

She spent several months in Jaya Bakti, Indonesia, with the help of a translator, getting to know the Bajau and another nearby group that did not dive, the Saluan.

"I spent my whole first visit to Jaya Bakti introducing myself, the project, and the underlying science," she told AFP.

"I wanted to be sure that they understood exactly what I was asking of them so they could help to direct the project to reflect their interests. They were very curious and excited about the research."

Before her second visit, she learned some Indonesian in order to be able to communicate directly with the Bajau.

- Scans and gene tests -

She took genetic samples and did ultrasound scans, which showed that Bajau had spleens about 50 percent larger than the Saluan.

Spleens are important in diving -- and are also enlarged in some seals -- because they release more oxygen into the blood when the body is under stress, or a person is holding their breath underwater.

Spleens were larger in the Balau people whether they were regular divers or not, and further analysis of their DNA revealed why.

Comparing the genomes of the Bajau to two different populations, the Saluan and the Han Chinese, scientists found 25 sites that differed significantly.

Among them was one site on a gene known as PDE10A, which was determined to be linked to the Bajau's larger spleen size.

In mice, "PDE10A is known for regulating a thyroid hormone that controls spleen size, lending support for the idea that the Bajau might have evolved the spleen size necessary to sustain their long and frequent dives,' said the study.

More research is needed to understand how thyroid hormone affects human spleen size.

The findings could boost research in medicine by helping researchers understand how the body reacts to a loss of oxygen in various contexts, from diving to high-latitude climbing to surgery and lung disease.

"This really tells us how valuable and important indigenous populations are around the world that are living extreme lifestyles," said co-author Eske Willerslev, a professor at the University of Copenhagen.

Willerslev admitted he initially urged Ilardo not to pursue the research for her PhD thesis, believing it was too risky and that she may find nothing.

"She said she wanted to do it anyway and that paid off. Melissa was right and our concerns were wrong."

Ilardo said she was aware of the risks but "believed so strongly in this project," that she had to push on.

"The Bajau and other Sea Nomads are simply extraordinary and I wanted to be able to prove that to the world," said Ilardo, now a US National Institutes of Health postdoctoral scholar at the department of Molecular Medicine at the University of Utah.

Melissa Llardo/AFP / Melissa Llardo

Q&A: Haa Keaulana wants to change how people think about Hawaii

The photography of Haa Keaulana, granddaughter of Oahu surf legend Buffalo Keaulana, has a worldwide audience.

Hawaii Magazine Nov 6, 2017

If you don’t already know surfer-photographer-model Haa Keaulana, you will soon enough. With more than 140,000 Instagram followers, the 25-year-old Keaulana has been sharing colorful lifestyle surf photography of her hometown of Makaha with the world. It’s led to partnerships with several companies, including the Four Seasons Resort Ko Olina, OluKai and Hawaiian Airlines. Our older, sunbaked readers may also recognize her family name: The patriarch of the family is her grandfather, Richard “Buffalo” Keaulana, who was a famous Waikiki beachboy, lifeguard, big-wave surfer and inaugural Hokulea voyage crewman. Haa continues the ocean-centered legacy her family has established, and she’s sharing it with the world, pic by pic, like by like, follower by follower. 

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