Adding shock absorption to hydrofoil pontoons makes so much sense I’m surprised someone didn’t build one of these things earlier. It not only moves like a bat out of hell, it looks extremely cool. I wouldn’t mind zipping in and around New York Harbor in one of these.
As a leap forward in the capability of watercraft, the SeaPhantom is landmark. The company’s catchcry “Helicopter speed, powerboat price” explains how effective it is, but the devil is in the detail and this toy is a combination of several technologies, each of them adding a significant dimension to the capabilities.
At low speeds, it’s just like a boat, then as it transitions to medium speeds, it lifts out of the water on proprietary shock dampened ‘foils’ which are outboard on each side and are the marine equivalent of a desert race car suspension – long travel and capable of withstanding massive impacts.
Without all that resistance of the water to contend with, the SeaPhantom can rocket along at 120 mph using just a fraction of the V-10’s 625 horsepower with radically-improved fuel consumption.
I’d love to see large-scale versions of this for ferry services, it would compete with ground-effect craft for speed and ride quality.
awesome picture
Do drug runner’s have these yet?
I bet they are putting deposits down…. 🙂
Ever get out on the water and you’re cruising along at just like 25 or 30 miles an hour…yet it feels like you’re going 60 or 70. I couldn’t imagine how fast it would seem in one of these things.
Isn’t that Tom Swift’s old boat?
Going fast in the water isn’t like going fast in the air, or on a highway. It’s more like going fast in a big open prarie. LOTS of stuff to hit.
Hitting something in a boat at 120 mph, even something small, like a cooler lost overboard, or a broken-off piece of a pier somewhere, would be catastrophic. I used to spend a lot of time in boats, and I assure you there is a LOT of junk floating around out there. The funniest thing I ever saw was a porta-john in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.
3,
Hence the heavy-duty shock absorbers, the core enabling technology.
From the article: “This is a very serious suspension system with non-corrosive fiberglass leaf springs and billet-aluminum airbags tested to 60,000 pounds for dampening the wave impacts.”
Looks very futuristic. 😉
Just noticed their V-10 is from Ilmor. They should try one of the really smoking jobs from that crew.
Of course, you’d need a separate tanker just for fuel.
I bet there is a very compelling technical reason foil shock absorbing systems weren’t used before. Materials technology, maybe? Also, I wonder how smooth the water has to be in order to crank it up to 120. At some wave height the impact must change from a bump or jolt to a full-on collision.
Imagine how many manatees you can mow down in one sweep!
That is sooo James Bond. Very Cool.
8,
Insightful.
Beautiful and cool, but also inevitable. The (also inevitable (and obvious(at least to yrs trly))) next step will be active, which is to say servocontrolled, foils. Again, it’s not ‘if’ it’ll be done, just ‘when.’
Had I the money and time, I’d just love to be working on this. Personally I believe hydrofoil applications are still in their infancy, and they’re bound to be eventually ubiquitous.
Gimme a plane any day — you don’t run into a log in midair!
13,
Yeah, but it’s a hell a lot easier to come to a soft landing if you have engine problems.