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Monday, August 4, 2008

Ball that bounces on water is summer craze

The Waboba ball, which is about the size of a golf ball, has become the must-have beach toy of the summer. ; http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1488655367/bctid1709855537 http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1139053637

The Waboba ball, which is about the size of a golf ball, has taken off around the world after videos were posted on YouTube.

Made of a combination of plastics with a lycra coating, it is described as having the consistency of a breast implant.

The ball is about the same density as water and floats when at rest, but bounces high and true when thrown. It continues to bounce until it is caught or runs out of steam.

The ball took Swedish inventor Jan von Heland several years to perfect, but it is now being sold around the world after first taking off on the beaches of Australia.

"I first got the idea when I was throwing a frisbee upside down on the water trying to get it to bounce,” he said.

"I thought it would be good to get something that used the water to bounce off and began to experiment.”

He added: "It has been very successful and we sell the balls all over the world - Australia is our biggest market.

"It seems a bit odd that a Swede should invent this because it is best for a hot climate where people are in the sea and in swimming pools all the time."

The ball, which works well in the sea and in swimming pools but is not intended to be thrown at hard surfaces, is available from several online retailers.

A spokeswoman for Volumeload, which supplies the balls in the UK, said that it had already sold around 15,000 this year and it was having to order more stock to keep up with demand.

Original here

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