SAT Essay作文素材The flying Frenchman set to smash round the world record
They are calling him the Bob Beamon of sailing. And just like Beamon, who astonished the world with his record-breaking long-jump in 1968, the French sailor Francis Joyon is rewriting the nautical record books in an unprecedented fashion.
Joyon, 47, is now in the final stages of an incredible voyage and on course to smash the existing non-stop solo round-the-world record by 20 days. Once he crosses the finish line off the Channel port of Brest on the morning of February 3, he will have completed one of the greatest feats of single-handed sailing in history.
Just like Beamon, whose leap at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 broke the world record by an almost unbelievable 21in - which stood unbeaten until 1991 - Joyons expected time of 73 days for the 26,000-mile global course will have far exceeded what most thought possible for a solo sailor.
Joyon set sail in November on an adventure some predicted would end in disaster. The father of four from La Trinit-sur-Mer in Brittany was undertaking the voyage in the 90ft trimaran IDEC, a boat of tremendous power with a huge rotating mast that had been built to be raced by a crew of up to ten.
Many were worried that Joyon would end up exhausted and IDEC would simply flip over as she ran out of control in the Southern Ocean.
Others predicted that Joyon would be unable to handle IDECs enormous sails or that the boat could lose her mast in the rough conditions that any round-the-world sailor inevitably would face.
There were also all the usual dangers - collision with debris in the water, with ice around Antarctica or the possibility that Joyon would collide with a ship while sleeping.
When he set off, the solo record stood at 93 days. Although Joyon was sailing a much faster boat than the previous record-holder, most saw little chance of him getting even close to 80 days.
Joyon had other ideas and over the past 71 days he has enjoyed good fortune with the weather, rarely running out of wind. He has, however, also displayed extraordinary stamina, determination and seamanship in keeping IDEC running close to her full potential.
2017届高考英语一轮复习全程热点检测:Unit 1《Other countries other cultures》(牛津译林版选修9)
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时作业23 Unit 3(人教版必修5)
2015届广东省韶关市高考英语一轮课外自练(5)及答案
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业8 Unit 3(人教版必修2)
2015届广东省韶关市高考英语一轮课外自练(4)及答案
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业35 Unit 5(人教版选修7)
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时作业25 Unit 5(人教版必修5)
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业7 Unit 2(人教版必修2)
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业32 Unit 2(人教版选修7)
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业33 Unit 3(人教版选修7)
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时作业21 Unit 1(人教版必修5)
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业4 Unit 4(人教版必修1)
2015届高考英语一轮复习全程热点检测:Unit 1《Building the future》(牛津译林版选修10)
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时作业16 Unit 1(人教版必修4)
2015届四川省岳池中学高考英语一轮复习训练(1)及答案
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业38 Unit 5(人教版选修8)
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时作业14 Unit 4(人教版必修3)
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业13 Unit 3(人教版必修3)
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时作业22 Unit 2(人教版必修5)
2015届四川省岳池中学高考英语一轮复习训练(2)及答案
2015届高考英语一轮复习全程热点检测:Unit 4《Films and film events》(牛津译林版选修8)
2015届广东省韶关市高考英语一轮课外自练(8)及答案
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业11 Unit 1(人教版必修3)
2015届广东省韶关市高考英语一轮课外自练(1)及答案
2015届高考英语一轮复习全程热点检测:Unit 4《The next step 》(牛津译林版选修11)
2015届高考英语一轮复习全程热点检测:Unit 3《Understanding each other》(牛津译林版选修6)
2015届高考英语一轮复习全程热点检测:Unit 4《Helping people around world》(牛津译林版选修6)
2015届高考英语一轮复习课时作业2 Unit 2(人教版必修1)
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时作业19 Unit 4(人教版必修4)
2015届广东省韶关市高考英语一轮课外自练(2)及答案
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |