Wes Cooley an American Champion

Wester Steven Cooley, (1956- 2021), better known as Wes, was an American motorcycle road racer in the AMA Superbike class. He won the 1979 and 1980 AMA Superbike Championships on a Yoshimura Suzuki GS1000s. Born in Los Angeles, California, Cooley got his start on the Southern California club racing scene where his father ran a club racing organization. He honed his skills in the smaller classes before being hired by Pops Yoshimura to race a Kawasaki KZ1000 in the newly formed AMA production class. He won his first AMA superbike race in 1977. For the 1978 season, Yoshimura switched to better handling Suzuki bikes and Cooley began winning regularly. He teamed up with Mike Baldwin to win the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours race in Japan. In 1980, he teamed up with Graeme Crosby to win at Suzuka a second time. Cooley went on to win his first superbike national championship in 1979. He successfully defended his crown in 1980 by fighting off future Hall of Famers Eddie Lawson on a Kawasaki and Freddie Spencer on a Honda.

In 1985 Cooley suffered life-threatening injuries in a crash at Sears Point Raceway. He eventually recovered to race again but he was never able to recapture his form. After his retirement from racing, he worked as an instructor at a riding school (WCRA) before taking up a career in the medical profession. Cooley was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2004.

Obsidian Motor Yacht

It's not every day that you see a gigantic superyacht weaving through the narrow canals of the Netherlands. On June 22nd 2023, the 84.2m Obsidian (Project 710) motor yacht left Aalsmeer for Rotterdam. Obsidian was built by Feadship in the Netherlands at their Aalsmeer shipyard. Her interior is styled by French studio Monk Design in collaboration with RWD and she was completed in 2023. This luxury vessel's exterior design is the work of RWD. The naval architecture was developed by Feadship De Voogt Naval Architects, who has architected 98 other superyachts. Obsidian has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 14 guests in 7 suites. She is also capable of carrying up to 27 crew onboard to ensure a relaxed luxury yacht experience. Her features include beauty salon, underwater lights, beach club, Wi-Fi and air conditioning. Obsidian is built with a steel hull and aluminum superstructure, with teak decks. Obsidian comfortably cruises at 12 knots, reaches a maximum speed of 17 knots with a range of up to 5,500 nautical miles from her 240,000 litre fuel tanks at 12 knots. 

Amazing pictures by Dutch Yachting

Omega Speedmaster Professional 1993

Omega Speedmaster is a line of chronograph wristwatches produced by Omega SA. While chronographs have been around since the late 1800s, Omega first introduced this line of chronographs in 1957. Since then, many different chronograph movements have been marketed under the Speedmaster name. Astronaut Walter Schirra was the first person to wear one in space in 1962 during his Mercury-Atlas 8 mission. I bought this watch in 1993 and together with my Seiko 6105-8110 is the favorite watch I ever had.

Schirra entering his M-A 8 capsule, Sigma 7

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon as photographed by Neil Armstrong

Ed White, the first American to perform extravehicular activity, outside of Gemini IV

The manual winding Speedmaster Professional or "Moonwatch" is the best-known and longest-produced; it was worn during the first American spacewalk as part of NASA's Gemini 4 mission, and was the first watch worn by an astronaut walking on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. The Speedmaster Professional remains one of several watches qualified by NASA for spaceflight, and is still the only one so qualified for EVA (Extravehicular activity). The Speedmaster line also includes other models, including analog-digital and automatic mechanical watches.

Nirmal Purja Project Possible

Annapurna 8091 m

Broad Peak 8047 m

Cho Oyu 8201 m

Dhaulagiri 8167 m

Everest 8848 m

Gasherbrum I 8080 m

Gasherbrum II 8035 m

K2 8611 m

Kangchenjunga 8586 m

Lhotse 8516 m

Makalu 8485 m

Manaslu 8163 m

Nanga Parbat 8125 m

Shishapangma 8027 m

Nirmal Purja is a Nepal-born naturalised British mountaineer and a holder of multiple mountaineering world records. Prior to taking on a career in mountaineering, he served in the British Army with the Brigade of Gurkhas followed by the Special Boat Service (SBS), the special forces unit of the Royal Navy. Purja is notable for having climbed all 14 eight-thousanders (peaks above 8,000 metres or 26,000 feet) in a record time of six months and six days with the aid of bottled oxygen. He was also the first to reach the summits of Mount Everest, Lhotse and Makalu within 48 hours. In 2021, Purja, along with a team of nine other Nepalese mountaineers, completed the first winter ascent of K2. It is surely one of the greatest feats of modern mountaineering. Climbing all the peaks over 8,000m represents a sprawling and often nebulous goal, even for the creme de la creme of climbers in the world. Nims Dai will not only have succeeded in joining the very closed club of mountaineers with fourteen 8,000, but will also have added a myriad of records to his credit. The movie

Moto Guzzi V7 Police

Originally, the first V7 marketed from 1967 was designed to equip the Italian police, following a competition launched in the early 1960s. It was designed by Giulio Cesare Carcano. Its engine is often mistakenly compared to that developed for the Autoveicolo da Montagna 3x3 and used by the army, also called the "mechanical mule", itself similar to the aborted engine project of the Fiat 5002. Giulio Cesare Carcano makes note that if these engines have in common to be V-twins, they are nevertheless totally different and the fruit of different ideas. According to Umberto Todero, they have nothing in common. The 703.3 cc 90° open V-twin, mounted longitudinally in the V7's double-cradle frame, develops 40 bhp. Braking is provided by two 220 mm drums, double cam at the front and single cam at the rear. It was not until the 1965 Milan Motor Show that the civilian version was presented. Compared to the police models, the civilian V7 gains around ten horsepower and loses 20 kg. 

Pictures via : thisoldtractor.com