Simon: In the old adventurous piratical days when Britannica ruled the waves, crossing the Atlantic in a sailing ship was about as tough as trying to cross the Alps in your bare feet. Columbus, for example, in the Santa Maria took 66 days to cross the Atlantic. Soon the Concorde will jet us from London to New York in just over three hours. This, of course, is progress. Me, I'm not in that much of a hurry.