smugglers

[asroc]

A straight coastline runs east-west. Smugglers leave a point 2 miles east of the coast guard station in a boat travelling northeast at 20mph. The coastguards boat leaves at the same time from their station and travels at 30mph.
Introduce variables to describe the time of travel and the direction of the coastguard's travel.
What course should they steer?
How long will it take the coastguards' boat to catch the smugglers?
How far east and north of the coastguard station is the point where the smugglers are caught?

[dzug]

Trick question I think. If the coast runs east-west then the smugglers boat cannot travel north east at all without running aground.

So the coastguard must travel east - 90 degrees.
They will catch the smugglers at the point they have run aground (which is as soon as they started). 2 miles at 30mph is 4 minutes I think.

[Aquagility]

druz, you are assuming that the east-west coast has land to the north of it, as in the south coast of England. Think of this as though it were the north coast of France.

[dzug]

doh........