I’m building a ramp to slingshot people into a lake [Victoria]

Hey guys, I saw a cool video of american kids catapulting themselves into a lake so I decided to do the same thing. I’m building everything myself at my own cost but I figured it’d be really cool if more people joined in once it’s finished so we can make it a little event and have a cool day! I thought people on this forum might enjoy that sort of things so here I am.

I setup a kickstarter project thinking with a little bit of extra money I could make the ramp even bigger and safer, buy a faster winch to launch us higher and further, have food drinks cameras etc! I don’t actually need the money to make it happen but it’d just be a way to make it a lot bigger! Also if you don’t want to donate anything but still want to get involved and you have useful skills or gear (ropes, a winch? a good camera?) please let me know!
It’ll be a re-usable thing so once everything is built and we’ve got all the gear we can take it anywhere.

Here is a link if you want to have a look:
Human Slingshot

Cheers

Looks like fun mate. If you do a road trip to Sydney with it, I’ll join you for some jumps!

Hahaha, good luck with it all. Whatever happens, I want to see videos!

Welcome to Boardworld, mate.

Thanks We built the ramp this week end, it surprisingly went really well for a first try! The curve is really smooth and the ramp looks really really solid (2 people could barely carry it). It’s not that big but with a decent winch it could send people flying about 5-6 meters high over 15 meters according to my calculations! I made a little video as we were making it, check it out below. Next step: make a portable petrol powered winch!

nice ramp BUT if im going to be pulled into something via a winch, id want it a hell of a lot wider than that!! Plus mdf will last all of 5 seconds in a wet environment!!

That being said im still 100% behind this idea and i cant wait to be flung!!

Agreed, 2 of them that could bolt together would definitely be more the size I’d be keen on…

If we are talking the same Lake Victoria, I can see it from my house on a clear day

or are you talking about a lake in Victoria?

Yeah I was talking any lake in Victoria, but lake Victoria looks like a good candidate! I"ll go explore next time I’m down the surf coast.
It’s 1.20m wide, I reckon that’s wide enough although yeah, a bit risky. It wouldn’t be too much work/money to make it wider though so I’ll keep that in mind If we use a winch we’ll have to make sure the runway is flat and straight and I’ll make a little guide so the rope always stays dead in the center. We’ll wrap rubber/foam around the edges and the top, cover the whole thing in plastic sheets (like a slip ‘n slide), and it will be on dry land so water should never touch it. The next challenge is to find someone who can weld well enough to make the frame for the winch:

I’ll keep updating this post as I go!

Go for it! It’s interesting watching this unfold

Hahaaha, this is awesome! Please keep us updated.