Zeppelins haul ass around the globe

From a dude outta Texas with a crazy dream and an equally crazy love of totally archaic modes of transportation, the inaugural WSR aims to launch a staggeringly ambitious, moustache-twirlingly awesome, Phileas-Fogg-esque jaunt around the globe in racing blimps.

Take off'll be in 2014, and, if successful, will mark "the first unassisted trans-Atlantic skyship crossing since 1937", as well as the first time since that date that anybody has used the word "skyship".

The proposed route will actually be split into 18 back-to-back races, starting in London and heading over the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific, USA (…U-S-A! U-S-A!), up and down Central America, and, well, you get the idea: pretty much everywhere on planet earth

They'll also float over a bunch of UNESCO world heritage sites, from the Roman Colosseum and the Taj Mahal, to the Golden Gate Bridge and NASA Johnson Space Centre

Records aplenty'll be set, including the first (and fastest) circumnavigation of the globe in a lighter-than-air vessel, and the shortest duration before a news anchor makes a Stairway to Heaven joke.

The eventual winners will get the title of Sky Race Champions, and, oh yeah, five million bucks. Apparently not everything in this outfit is outdated.