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.
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In North America it is also referred to as "skipping rocks". In Italian is called rimbalzello, in Russian this game is called "baking pancakes" (pech blini), in Ukrainian, it is called "letting the frogs out" (zapuskaty zhabky), in Polish, "letting the ducks out" (puszczanie kaczek). In Hungarian it is called "making it to waddle" (kacsáztatás). In Spanish it is called "making white-caps" or "frogging(?)" (hacer cabrillas or hacer sapito), among other names, in Catalan, "making step-stone bridges" or "furrows", or simply "skipping stones" (fer passeres, fer rigalets, llençar passanelles). Also, in Estonian, it is called "throwing a burbot" (lutsu viskama).In Bengali Stone skipping is played in the name of Bengachi (frog jumps). In Andhra Pradesh Stone skipping is played in the name of Kappa Gantulu (frog jumps). In Portuguese, it is called either "peixinho" (little fish) or "conchinhas" (little seashells). In French, it is called "ricochets", and in Swedish as well as in Finnish it is called "throwing a sandwich", if translated literally. In Danish, it is called "smut" - "at smutte" (slipping) or, "at slå smut" (to make slips). Czech language mostly uses dělat (házet) žabky/žabičky (to make/throw little frogs – countrywide, especially in Central and North Bohemia and Czech Silesia) or kačky/kačeny/kařery/kačenky/káčata/káčery/káčírky (ducks/drakes/ducklings, East Bohemia and parts of Moravia) but there are many other local and dialectal words: rybičky/rybky (little fishes), mističky (saucers), talíře (plates/dishes), podlisky/podlíšky/lyšky (wagtails), potápky (divers), pokličky/pukličky (pot-lids), plisky, plesky (flaps), žbluňky (plops), šipky (darts), bubliny (bubbles), židy (jews), páni/panáky (sirs/figures), babky (gammers/wagtails), panenky (dolls/girls/dragonflies), převážet panenku Mariu (to ferry Virgin Mary) and many others.[1]
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.[2]
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 in Wimberley, Texas; the next official NASSA World Championships is expected to be held at Platja d'en Ros beach in Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain.
The world record according to the Guinness Book of Records is 51 skips, set by Russell Byars on July 19, 2007.[3] The previous record was 40 skips, set by Kurt Steiner at the Pennsylvania Qualifying Stone Skipping Tournament on September 14, 2002.[4]
A stone skipping championship of a different nature takes place every year in Easdale, Scotland, that competes for distance as opposed to number of skips.[5] Every year since 1997, competitors from all over the world have taken part in the World Stone Skimming Championships in a disused quarry on Easdale Island,[6] using stones made from Easdale slate. The 2007 winner was Dougie Isaacs from Scotland. Eric Robertson won in 2008. David Gee was the 2009 winner. Dougie Isaacs won the title again in 2010 and in 2011, making him the World Stone Skimming champion with the most titles in the competition's history.[7]
An early explanation of the physics of stone-skipping was provided by Lazzaro Spallanzani in the 18th century.
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.[8] Bocquet and his colleagues were surprised to discover that changes in speed and rotation did not change this fact.[8] Work by Hewitt, Balmforth and McElwaine has shown that if the horizontal speed can be maintained skipping can continue indefinitely.[9] 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.[8]