Could this just be an elaborate movie prop?
Are we sure Burt Rutan didn’t design that thing?
Prtetty sure. There are no canard winglets.
I find it interesting that the cabin or pod appears to be designed as a boat hull, itself, marred by the way the cockpit seems bolted on to the from from some other ship. Could the pod be designed to be winched down to sit on (or under) the water?
Doubt it. The glass on the cabin is flat, and there is a lot of it.
Radical designs like this are often created around one critical mission criteria. It might be very specialized. It could be a scientific vessel that has some kind of sensor on it that has to be positioned a certain height above the water, or it could be shaped that way because it’s designed to manoever over top of some specific kind of obstacle. Also, note that the booms appear to be connected to the pontoons through large leaf-spring type isolators. Perhaps the thing is a platform for penetrating sonar mapping, or housing some other kind of instrument that needs to be on a very stable platform.
Looks to me like you could sling a 40ft shipping container under that thing and navigate a significant number of the smaller waterways in the world. As Tommndeb pointed out, that cabin is odd shaped, and reminds me of the cabins on the cranes in container ports.
Thinking about it, this *could be a radical design for a very interesting cruising boat. Think about it - a typical ocean-going private vessel it typically a monohull of some kind. That means it rocks, sways, etc. For some people, it makes travel uncomfortable. Also, your eyes are right down near the surface of the water.
Imagine cruising in this thing. It’s efficient, with minimal surface area and hull size. There’s no chance of being centered on a wave like there can be with other catamarans, and probably zero chance of being flipped. The living/piloting area is on all kinds of suspension - the inflatable pontoons themselves, the big leaf spring type shock absorbers, and maybe more in the connection between the booms and the pod. And the view would be spectacular - you’re quite high up, with excellent vision. Smooth, efficient, fairly high speed ocean travel.
Only thing is, it doesn’t looke like the pod would be designed that way if it was meant for cruising. It would have windows in the back and sides, and probably be finished better than the military/commercial look of this thing.
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!
“Greetings, Dr. Quest.”
Hmmm…with all that isolation from the waves, it might be a good platform for geophysical work – looking for oil using seismology, for example, or ocean bottom mapping. I’m not sure that the “salvage vessel” hypothesis holds water, as this vehicle looks pretty expensive, and salvage can conveniently be done by some rusty old barge with a crane on it.
Still, that boat bears a passing resemblance to
this Rutan creation.
[sub]I know, I know, that’s two planes. But still…[/sub]
If the pontoons are inflatable as the description says, wonder what happens if one springs a leak? I don’t think I’d like to be be mid-ocean then.
Why couldn’t it just be a fun craft to have for someone who can afford a yacht but wants to be different?
And given his other patents, there’s some support for the oil exploration /sea bottom mapping theory.
From your link:
But is it flexible?
At a 100 feet long, probably more than one would expect.
From that Flickr link it seems to use ram-steered props similar to Arnesen surface drives. Together with the general look of the thing, it makes me wonder whether it’s optimised for shallow-water operation of some kind? It might make a pretty good way of pootling around in shallow lagoons, reefs, swamps and the like, if it has very shallow draught and good obstacle visibility from the elevated position.
The “cabin” in the center seems to be mainly tarps surrounding something, only the glass cockpit seems solid.
This site shows some different pics where you can see the wrinkles in the tarps as well as some shots of it under power with nothing but the cockpit portion of the center structure.
Or in a villa with a view over an Italianate village:
“What do you want?”
“in-for-mation”