The Physics of a Boat Parade
September 8, 2020 5:43 PM Subscribe
The Travis Lake Trump Boat Parade was too slow not too fast as many media outlets reported. Because of the types of boats that predominated in the parade (center-console, outboard engine, deep-V planing hulled boats), the speed chosen for the parade was the goldilocks of wake creation. Learn about planing vs. displacement boat hulls , wave dynamics, and how they intersect with politics in 2020!
This post was deleted for the following reason: Aw, dang, the registration wall here does seem kinda too much. A do-over with different sourcing would be fine. -- cortex
The site seems to require registration to read, with an unusually invasive set of questions. It’s a bummer because I’m very interested in this.
posted by Orlop at 5:53 PM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Orlop at 5:53 PM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Rich idiots not understanding how any of their systems work to keep them all afloat and making bad and uninformed decisions because of it is a Trumper in a nutshell.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:56 PM on September 8, 2020 [19 favorites]
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:56 PM on September 8, 2020 [19 favorites]
it was a perfect speed to maximise disruption, turbulence, and chaos.
posted by wmo at 5:58 PM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by wmo at 5:58 PM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
@Orlop - try searching for "Those boats in Texas paraded at the wrong speed" in google. You should be able to read it from google news.
posted by dopeypanda at 6:08 PM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by dopeypanda at 6:08 PM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
Boater suppression.
Boater emails!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:21 PM on September 8, 2020 [16 favorites]
Boater emails!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:21 PM on September 8, 2020 [16 favorites]
Turn-a-boat is fair play.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 6:26 PM on September 8, 2020
posted by evidenceofabsence at 6:26 PM on September 8, 2020
Given these boat riots, I really wouldn't want to see how trumpists navigate on plane. At that point, the rioters would kill one another instead of merely destroying each other's toys.
posted by eustatic at 6:37 PM on September 8, 2020
posted by eustatic at 6:37 PM on September 8, 2020
(Psst — Lake Travis, not Travis Lake)
posted by snowmentality at 6:38 PM on September 8, 2020
posted by snowmentality at 6:38 PM on September 8, 2020
Whoever came up with the “Dumbkirk” portmanteau deserves an some sort of Portmanteau Nobel.
posted by mhoye at 6:38 PM on September 8, 2020 [16 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 6:38 PM on September 8, 2020 [16 favorites]
I use uBlock Origin and did not hit the FT paywall.
The author does a good job of avoiding the har-har Trump supporters angle, even giving a nod to a properly done Trump boat parade in Jupiter. Given large boat parades are so uncommon, I'm guessing most people who own go-fast boats don't understand the fluid dynamics involved and complex turbulence they were creating. I can find some articles on hull speed for planing boats (there is none), and the waves they create but nothing warning of the cohesive boat wave phenomena.
The author even talks about a planing boat as being "over-horsed" but as I stated earlier the entire phenomena with a go-fast boat is that it doesn't really have a speed limit due to not being in water the entire time. Heavy weather commercial fishing vessels use this over-horse power concept to get through rough seas.
The more you know!
posted by geoff. at 6:41 PM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
The author does a good job of avoiding the har-har Trump supporters angle, even giving a nod to a properly done Trump boat parade in Jupiter. Given large boat parades are so uncommon, I'm guessing most people who own go-fast boats don't understand the fluid dynamics involved and complex turbulence they were creating. I can find some articles on hull speed for planing boats (there is none), and the waves they create but nothing warning of the cohesive boat wave phenomena.
The author even talks about a planing boat as being "over-horsed" but as I stated earlier the entire phenomena with a go-fast boat is that it doesn't really have a speed limit due to not being in water the entire time. Heavy weather commercial fishing vessels use this over-horse power concept to get through rough seas.
The more you know!
posted by geoff. at 6:41 PM on September 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
A tip for those trying to bypass registration or paywalls in general - putting a . after the .com
(making it .com./2020) seems to work for many sites, I am honestly not sure why, it worked for this one, perhaps it's to allow robots to index the site or it's a soft paywall only.
posted by xdvesper at 6:46 PM on September 8, 2020 [9 favorites]
(making it .com./2020) seems to work for many sites, I am honestly not sure why, it worked for this one, perhaps it's to allow robots to index the site or it's a soft paywall only.
posted by xdvesper at 6:46 PM on September 8, 2020 [9 favorites]
They no-keeled right over.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:48 PM on September 8, 2020
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:48 PM on September 8, 2020
All I can think about is the bravura set-piece in The Baroque Cycle in which the wave harmonics of the liquid cargo in a ship's hold and the waves said ship is subject to in a specific harbor are aligned so as to almost guarantee the ship to sink. I like to imagine Neal Stephenson having a good laugh at this story.
posted by minervous at 7:12 PM on September 8, 2020
posted by minervous at 7:12 PM on September 8, 2020
Like, what maybe could have prevented this would have been if they'd had some organizing going on where small boats went first and the bigger boats later? The free-for-all is what sunk it.
Sort of actually a metaphor there, he said stating the obvious.
posted by hippybear at 7:16 PM on September 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Sort of actually a metaphor there, he said stating the obvious.
posted by hippybear at 7:16 PM on September 8, 2020 [3 favorites]
Probably mostly inexperience, folks freaking and turning away from a big wave. Gotta power into it at the right angle, not full speed but just the right amount to maintain control. Most of the boat looked real seaworthy, fine for going out in most conditions, but survival on the water sometimes takes a bit more than a checkbook. Nobody died so a number of skippers knew what to do in an emergency.
But a metaphor for the next few months, just got a bad feeling. Not that Trump declares, but just stupid decisions that trigger waves of pain for the little guys just trying to tread and keep afloat.
posted by sammyo at 7:31 PM on September 8, 2020
But a metaphor for the next few months, just got a bad feeling. Not that Trump declares, but just stupid decisions that trigger waves of pain for the little guys just trying to tread and keep afloat.
posted by sammyo at 7:31 PM on September 8, 2020
I know people who live on (or near) lakes and the hatred for wake boats seems pretty widespread. They make the water too damn choppy for everyone else and the big waves do a number on shoreline erosion and docks.
posted by jquinby at 7:40 PM on September 8, 2020
posted by jquinby at 7:40 PM on September 8, 2020
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posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 5:50 PM on September 8, 2020 [28 favorites]