The SeaLegs Anaconda Amphibious Concept

With the vast majority of the world’s population living very close to the water, amphibious vehicles make loads of sense – which means we love amphibious vehicles at Gizmag, having previously reported on the original launch of Sealegs, the Gibbs Aquada Sportcar, the Gibbs Humdinga 4WD amphibian, the Platypus 4WD amphibian, the Rinspeed Splash, the Phibicat,the world’s only mass production amphibian, the Amphicar. More recently, we’ve written about the Sealegs rugged aluminium amphibious craft which which halved Sir Richard Branson's English Channel record set in an Aquada in June. Interestingly, the country where most amphibious innovation is occuring is New Zealand, home of both Gibbs and SeaLegs and one of the most interesting tertiary courses in the world – Massey University’s Bachelor of Design in Transport Design. Our latest amphibian is a concept craft created by a graduate of Massey Designs Marine Transport Course, Matt Gibson. This year Matt’s final year project was sponsored by Sealegs International and the aim was to develop a futuristic amphibious craft, which eventually took shape as the “Anaconda” pictured here.

The Anaconda has a length of 5.4 meters and its potential uses include wakeboarding, skiing, paragliding, sightseeing, and the ability to picnic just about anywhere. Next to a helicopter, the Anaconda offers more access than any other vehicle known to man. Matt envisages the Anaconda would appeal to a wide range of customers, though those with a luxury yacht or waterside residence would probably make up the majority of those to whom the amphibian would appeal.

For luxury yacht owners, the Anaconda offers both tender and land transport in one package, though waterside residences around Auckland and Sydney Harbours were also in Matt’s mind when he conceived and designed the boat. He also foresees a great deal of potential in emergency and rescue roles for the Anaconda.

The Anaconda is powered by a Mercury 240 EFI, which Matt calculates would give it a top speed of 44 knots (88km/h) on the water and 15km/h on land.