Stone skipping
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Stone skipping is a pastime which involves throwing a stone with a flattened surface across a lake or other body of water in such a way that it bounces off the surface of the water. The object of the game is to see how many times a stone can be made to bounce before sinking.
The pastime is also called stone skimming, stone skiting, and ducks and drakes in the UK; and stone skiffing in Ireland according to Jerdone "Jerry" Coleman-McGhee, in his book, The Secrets of Stone Skipping[1]. The North American Stone Skipping Association (NASSA), founded by Coleman-McGhee, in 1989 and based in Driftwood, Texas, sanctioned world championships for four years from 1989 through 1992[citation needed] in Wimberley, Texas; the next official NASSA World Championships is expected to be held at Playa del Ros beach in Spain[citation needed].
The world record according to the Guinness Book of Records is 40 skips, set by Kurt Steiner at the Pennsylvania Qualifying Stone Skipping Tournament on September 14, 2002 [2].
Research undertaken by a team led by French physicist, Lydéric Bocquet, has discovered that an angle of about 20° between the stone and the water's surface is optimal[citation needed]. Bocquet and his colleagues were surprised to discover that changes in speed and rotation did not change this fact[citation needed].
Earlier research reported by Bocquet calculated that the world record of 38 rebounds. set by Coleman-McGhee, unchallenged for many years, required a speed of 12 m/s (25 mph), with a rotation of 14 revolutions per second[citation needed].
A stone skipping event of a different nature takes place every year in Easdale, Scotland, that competes for distance as opposed to number of skips[citation needed].
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[edit] Further reading
- Spinning Flight : Dynamics of Frisbees, Boomerangs, Samaras and Skipping Stones, Ralph Lorenz, Copernicus New York, September 2006 ISBN 0-387-30779-6
