Rush Labs was established in 2005 to research, develop and invest in real time – high risk innovation. Our value-add capability arises from our team's personal experience in building, structuring, funding, positioning and managing complex projects in high risk, time sensitive environments.
Landmark projects include Crossing the Ditch - World First Trans-Tasman Kayak Expedition, Oz Chicks with Altitude - World First Mother-Daughter Everest and ‘7 Summits’ and The Grand Adventure - World’s Fastest Circumnavigation by Helicopter amongst many other inspiring projects. We are slowly profiling these projects on our new site rushscout.com, please visit and read about many more world class projects.
Our latest projects focus on real-time technology and leverage the teams expertise in decision support. Redback is a real-time collective intelligence platform and Taipan is an algorithmic trading system. These are amongst a short list of ideas in various stages of Research and Development with more announcements throughout 2010.
Rush Labs brings together a suite of complimentary skills across strategy, finance, technology, data analytics and risk-management focused towards real-time decision support. We work and play with a diverse and growing range of clients and collaborators inspiring research and commercial projects across corporate, government and private client groups. read more
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Met from ‘Clouds’ – Roger Badham for imminent Tasman Trespasser II departure
Outlooks for next week look good for the first 3-4 days getting away on Sunday 17, but the 2nd half of next week sees a low likely to develop over the southern Tasman Sea and the winds will turn SW/20-30 south of 31.5S by Thursday and turn SSW/20-30 on the Friday and Saturday (23rd) before that low moves well east to NZ and the winds ease over the western Tasman.
In a previous post, we introduced the next chapter to the Tasman Sea… Tasman Trespasser II. Shaun Quincey is in now in Sydney preparing for what will be another inspirational expedition to grace the Tasman and we are proud to be a part of the action.
Tasman Trespasser II really grabbed our attention when Shaun contacted us nearly 18 months ago. ‘Quincey’ did ring a bell and when we dug through our research notes for Crossing the Ditch, the bells rang louder. Colin Quincey, Shaun’s father, crossed the Tasman solo in a rowing boat in 1977. Unbelievable!. No GPS, no Iridium, no Comar, no Skeds, no Comms at all in fact. We had the pleasure of spending some time with Colin and Shaun earlier in the week and Colin explained how he turned his HF radio into a lightening conductor early in the trip, how he would balance standing up with a sextant, triangulating his position for nav checks and dead reckoning for good measure.
We will be posting commentary as Shaun makes his crossing and thought a good warm up would be a few charts from CSIRO to give you a glimpse of what the Tasman is doing right now. Shaun is departing from further north than Crossing the Ditch, more detailed maps over the next few days and weeks.
Source: http://www.cmar.csiro.au/remotesensing/oceancurrents/
James Castrission and Justin Jones mark the 18 month anniversary of their world first Trans-Tasman Kayak Expedition, Crossing the Ditch, very shortly. James is releasing a book on the journey and Justin has been producing a documentary alongside Quail TV,both of which we expect to see around July 2009.
We have been dusting off all of our Crossing the Ditch prep work, images, videos and data and hope over the next few weeks to get it all posted up here at rushlabs.com.
We started with a short snapshot of the live monitoring of the kayak. Note the track the team took is coloured which corresponds to a scale in the top left relating to velocity.
Click here to see the Crossing the Ditch Case Study and check back regularly over the next month as we gradually update it.
Adventurer Shaun Quincey, 24, plans to row solo from Australia to New Zealand. If successful, Shaun will make the only solo crossing of the Tasman, other than his father, Colin Quincey, who made history in 1977 by completing the first ever and only solo Tasman crossing from New Zealand to Australia.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Shaun will depart Australia in November 2009, rowing the treacherous Tasman Sea without any assistance. Shaun will battle a distance of over 2200km in 10-20 metre swells and one of the most hazardous seas in the world. Taking an estimated 50 days, his expedition, named Tasman Trespasser 2, will be an epic adventure.
Shaun has enjoyed his father’s mentorship and as the only person to ever cross the Tasman solo, Colin Quincey brings a unique perspective to Shaun’s planning. Colin is a legend amongst the outdoor and adventure community and made his crossing without the technology and support modern explorers enjoy. Serving 25 years in the Royal New Zealand Navy, Colin also worked with disadvantaged children in Tonga, Thailand and Cambodia before settling in Darwin to work with the local community.
Shaun hopes that his expedition will be as successful as his father’s after a recent series of failed bids to make a solo crossing of the Tasman. Perhaps the most tragic occurred in February 2007, when 39-year-old Australian Andrew McAuley died. His body was never found.
Shaun believes he is taking a very serious approach. “I am rowing a custom Woodvale Ocean Rowing boat which is reinforced with a special Kevlar coating for added protection”, he said. “I have asked people like my father, and others with proven experience and commitment, for their help, and to act as an Advisory Board”. The team that supported James Castrission and Justin Jones, the kayakers who crossed the ditch one year ago, are supporting the project alongside world famous solo rowers and experts in many fields.
Colin’s boat was named Tasman Trespasser and Shaun thought it fitting to name his boat and expedition “Tasman Trespasser II”.
Further Information and expedition updates available at:
http://www.tasmantrespasser.com
It has been almost 18 months since James and Justin paddled into Taranaki , New Zealand after a gruelling 62 days at sea. We just had the Quail TV crew here at Rush HQ filming the last few snippets I suspect of the expedition documentary which will be released alongside a book published by Harper Collins in late June 2009. James kept a diary from the day he set his mind on crossing the Tasman and naturally has extended this into what will no doubt be a great read. Justin turned to the doco and has been pulling together footage from all over the place, working with Quail TV to tell the story through video.
“Our journey across the Tasman was frightening at times. Sharks tearing at our hull, 30-foot waves crashing over our kayak, and the possibility that the stern of the boat might be ripped away; these were all very real fears. Who were we to take on the Tasman Sea? But the little kid inside me screamed, ‛Go on, mate, give it a go.′” – James Castrission
With more than two thousand kilometres of treacherous seas and dangerously unpredictable weather and currents, not to mention the ever-present threat of sharks, it was little wonder no one had ever successfully crossed the Tasman by kayak. Australian adventurer Andrew McAuley had come close just months earlier – tragically, though, not near enough to save his life. But two young Sydneysiders, James Castrission and Justin Jones, reached the sand at New Plymouth – and a place in history – on 13 January 2008, 62 days after they′d set off from Forster on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.
In the process, they overcame a litany of difficulties, including dwindling food supplies, a string of technical problems and two close encounters with sharks, as well as one demoralising 14-day period in which – caught in a whirlpool – they found themselves being dragged back to Australia. When they arrived in New Zealand, they were sunburnt, bearded, underweight, physically and mentally wasted … and, most of all, happy to be alive.
The book is on sale from 1 July 2009, published by Harper Collins
Today, James is in final prep for a casual ascent of McKinley and something tells me that we are about to hear about the next big thing from the duo who don’t believe in ‘halves’.
