# What is this odd boat for?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 21, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258 "2006-11-21T05:44:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2006, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/1 "2006-11-21T05:44:44Z")
This [odd looking boat](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v483/picunurse/oddBoat.jpg) has been seen around Anacortes Washington recently. No one knows anything about it. The men who have been on board won’t talk about it. They don’t seem to be military, (no uniforms) but remain completely closed mouthed.
Anyone here know anything?
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2006, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/2 "2006-11-21T05:56:13Z")
Thread on this. Here it is: [Stange experimental boat](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=392811&highlight=boat+shock)
[QUOTE=Duke of Rat]
The “cabin” in the center seems to be mainly tarps surrounding something, only the glass cockpit seems solid.
This [site](http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/06/1018/) 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.
[/QUOTE]
From DoRat’s link:
> [@](#):
>
> Scuttlebutt spoke with Jim Antrim, but he remains tied to a confidentiality agreement he signed with Ugo Conti’s company, Marine Advanced Research. Upon contacting Marine Advanced Research, Isabella Conti replied that “the boat is not quite finished yet and I am not at liberty to disclose information at this time. There will be a press conference at some point and, if you are interested, we will send you an invitation and/or a press kit at that time.”
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2006, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/3 "2006-11-21T06:14:28Z")
Thank you. I had a vague memory of having seen the pictures before. It must have been in that thread.
Now, it’s become a rumor at the large Aircraft manufacturing plant in or around this area that it’s a new project from their military arm. :dubious:
I can try to fight a bit of ignorance there, but it seems to self generate faster then they can build aircraft.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/4 "2006-11-21T16:40:52Z")
Good cite on this:
> **[Law enforcement addresses cannabis impact in Sequim | Sequim Gazette](https://www.sequimgazette.com/news/law-enforcement-addresses-cannabis-impact-in-sequim/)**
>
> While the state awaits first licensed retail marijuana retailers tentatively on July 7, local law enforcement officials find they’ll take a wait and see approach since they’ve been handling cannabis cases long before Initiative 502 passed.
"According to the Internet site [sailinganarchy.com](http://sailinganarchy.com), it is a 100-foot catamaran built in Anacortes, Wash. for San Francisco explorer and scientist Ugo Conti’s company Marine Advanced Research. A photo of the craft out of the water is posted on the site.
The “inflatable power cat” was reportedly designed by Jim Antrim, a boat designer based in California whose boats have won numerous awards. Antrim’s Internet site, [antrimdesign.com](http://antrimdesign.com), shows a computer image of the catamaran, but no photographs, and reports that final design is underway.
The small, white-hulled craft that was spotted tethered to the large craft resembles another small catamaran of Conti’s called Aria, according to the Explorers Club Northern California Chapter’s Oct. 2002 newsletter.
The newsletter reported Conti said he was “embarked on the design of a vessel which will allow safe and speedy ocean travel. Just how, remains his secret, for now.”
The mysterious and publicly unnamed large catamaran seen in Sequim Bay — which two Port Angeles boaters reported had the word “wing” etched on one side — may be the physical manifestation of this secret.
Marine Advanced Research applied for a U.S. patent in 2003 that appears to describe the craft. A pair of flexible hulls are coupled to a cabin between and above the hulls, allowing them to independently follow the surface of the water, states the patent abstract posted on [freepatentsonline.com](http://freepatentsonline.com), while motors hinged to the back of the hulls maintain propulsion through the water even if the stern of one or both hulls have lifted out of the water when crossing swells."
And here’s that link: [http://www.antrimdesign.com/](http://www.antrimdesign.com/)
Interesting! 🆒
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/5 "2006-11-21T17:59:49Z")
“Inflatable power cat”? Sounds like some sort of sex toy.
Of course, if you listen in the right way, just about _anything_ sounds like some sort of sex toy.
I still think this is either a) a movie prop, or b) part of Dr. Evil’s equipment. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)
#### Post date: [November 21, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/6 "2006-11-21T19:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace]
part of Dr. Evil’s equipment. 🙂
[/QUOTE]
Speaking of things that sound like sex toys…
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### Author:  [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/7 "2007-01-19T14:58:46Z")
[http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/19/BAGE7NLI001.DTL](http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/19/BAGE7NLI001.DTL)
It’s designed for many things including as a long-range cargo carrier. The crew compartment can sail off on its own.
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2007, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/8 "2007-01-19T17:30:30Z")
[QUOTE=Valgard]
> **[Client Challenge](https://www.sfgate.com/gone.txt)**
It’s designed for many things including as a long-range cargo carrier.
[/QUOTE]
> [@](#):
>
> It can carry 2 tons of cargo, and can be operated by a crew of two.
With that cargo capacity, it should work well for drug running; coke, heroin etc. etc.
I wonder how _fast_ it is?
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### Author:  [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/9 "2007-01-19T21:11:10Z")
The owner says it’s “faster than I can walk”. Not impressive, but maybe he’s just being secretive.
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2007, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-odd-boat-for/381258/10 "2007-01-20T06:06:30Z")
[QUOTE=Squink]
With that cargo capacity, it should work well for drug running; coke, heroin etc. etc.
I wonder how _fast_ it is?
[/QUOTE]
Well, it is currently running on a pair of 355 h.p. marine diesels and rep[otedly can go “thousands of miles.” That suggests speeds less than sizzling.
Of course, if range only needed to be “hundreds” of miles, I suppose the power plants could be swapped out for something with a bit more _ooomph_. That, of course, would be subject to the ability of the hulls to stand up to greater speed–something we won’t know until Conti begins to market it in earnest.