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.
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第二篇: 山峦作文素材
本篇《[素材]《山峦》 山峦_》由小编为需要作文素材的朋友精心收集整理,仅供参考。内容如下:
近处的山,布满了树林,出现一片浓绿。远处的山,也布满了树林,出现一片苍黑。山路窄得像一根羊肠,盘盘曲曲,铺满了落叶,而且不时遇到漫流的山泉,湿漉漉的,脚底下直打滑。
黄洋界坐落在井冈山的西北角上,经常漫着浓雾,白茫茫的,像海一样,所以又叫汪洋界。那形势,真是气象万千。透过漠漠的烟雾,朝前望去,一片缭乱的云山,厮缠在一起:浓云重得像山,远山又淡得像云,是云是山,分辨不清。有时风吹云散,满山满岭的松杉、毛竹和千百种杂树便起伏摇摆,卷起一阵滚滚滔滔的黑浪,拍击着黄洋界前断崖绝壁。
只见一座座山峰像无数把巨剑刺向青天,低山逶迤,滚滚滔滔。各种奇峰异石,千姿百态,有的如金蛇狂舞,有的似烈马腾空。在陡峻危立的绝壁上,一棵棵倔强的青松穿过乳白色的薄雾,在微风中婆娑起舞,好像有意向人们炫耀它那妩媚多娇的英姿。
南岳之特色在于绿,无山不树,无树不绿,千姿百态,意趣横生。
远处是重重叠叠、连绵不断的山峰,山峰青得像透明的水晶,可又不那么沉静。我们的车子奔跑着,远山也像一起一伏的跟着赛跑;有时在群峰之上,又露出一座更秀隽的山峰,像忽地昂起头来,窥探一下,看谁跑得快。
它那陡峻的山岩高耸在遥遥的天际,乳白色的浮云飘浮在它的脚下,纵深的峡谷里倾泻着一望无垠的原始山川,巍峨的山岭上覆盖着积存万年的白雪。有时,嘶叫的旋风刮得天昏地暗。有时,巨大的雪崩震撼得地动山摇。
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