Sealegs

Sealegs amphibious vehicle completes 1873 mile circumnavigation

By Mike Hanlon

21:36 February 23, 2009 PST

Tradition is ingrained in the marine world and there's a sense of fragility and mistrust which most boaties harbour for amphibious watercraft – so the successful completion of a 3015 km (1873 mile) circumnavigation of the rugged New Zealand North Island by a Sealegs 7.1 meter amphibious craft today might go some way to allaying those fears. The 7.1 amphibious RIB averaged 46 km/h (28.6 mph) over 65 hours of driving time. Read More

Sealegs breaks amphibious on-water record

By Noel McKeegan

22:18 December 6, 2007 PST

December 7, 2007 Earlier this week we reported on a planned record attempt by Sealegs to become the fastest amphibious vehicle in the World on water - a goal which the company achieved earlier today at speeds of more than 100kmh (62mph). Read More

Sealegs amphibious vehicle sets sights on speed record

By Emily Clark

21:27 December 4, 2007 PST

December 5, 2007 Sealegs International is gearing up for a world record attempt as the fastest amphibious vehicle over 500m on-water. Read More

Sealegs 7.1m amphibious boat commences production

By Mike Hanlon

July 19, 2007 Sealegs new 7.1 metre amphibious boat is about to commence volume production following successful sea trials. The NZ$98,000 (US$77,600) 7.1m Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) is the third and largest model released by the amphibious boat manufacturer and is expected to attract a lot of interest from tourism and water transportation operators. Its obvious strength is the additional space, which enables eight adults to be comfortably seated within its 700kg payload. It has a top land speed of 10 kph and with an 115hp motor can do up to 78 kph on water. Read More

Sealegs amphibious boats extend range with rugged new D-tube model

By Loz Blain

July 12, 2007 Since the last time we caught up with the Kiwis behind Sealegs, the amphibious boat that can drive itself straight down into the water, worldwide sales have taken off. The eye-catching vehicle is a fully functional boat that drops "landing gear" much like a small plane to drive out of the water and overland at up to 6mph (10kph). Sealegs showcased their latest model in Australia recently at the Melbourne Boat Show - a 6.1 metre aluminium D-tube version that's essentially a ruggedized rigid inflatable - a bit heavier and around AUD$10K (US$8,600) more expensive than its predecessor, but it's a complete turnkey amphibious solution with extra armor for avid adventurers. A drive on trailer is now also available that adds high speed land transport to the equation. Read More

Sealegs – boating without the hassles

By Mike Hanlon

May 14, 2007 Viewed from one angle, Sealegs is the world’s most advanced amphibian, but from another, it’s boating without the hassles. While getting a boat in the water is not exactly a herculean task, it nonetheless prevents many people from going boating every day. Sealegs takes the entire process of launching and docking a boat out of the equation – just get in, drive into the water and reverse the process at the other end. The current Sealegs offering is essentially a 5.7 metre Rigid Inflatable Boat with Sealegs retractable 3-wheel system embedded. The addition of the system costs around US$20,000 to the cost of a normal inflatable and adds 100 kg for the ability to drive up any surface from which you can launch a boat. There’s an optional drive-on boat trailer as the boat isn’t registerable for the open road. On land it runs at 6 mph but it does considerably better on water with a top speed of 35 mph thanks to a 120 horespower engine. There’s a 7m version coming soon that can handle a 150 horsepower motor. In Australia, the 5.7 metre version costs AUD$ 49,000 plus another AUD$14,000 for a 120 horsepower motor. The new 7metre unit fully decked out with options will run to AUD$110,000. Demand is growing with a 12 month wait for orders already, the manufacturer is gearing up to increase production capacity by 400% which means the queue won’t be as long in the future. Read More

Killer amphibious vehicle - 39 mph on water and 55 mph on land

By Mike Hanlon

With waterfront property highly prized the world over, we see the amphibious market as one of the next great opportunities – the people with the greatest disposable income will have the greatest need for amphibians. At the same time, new techniques, technologies and materials are yielding a new breed of amphibious craft that are seemingly omnipotent. Most amphibious craft to date have been biased towards performance on land (such as the Splash, Commander, Amphicar, Platypus, Aquada and Humdinger) or water (such as the Aerosan or Sealegs here, and here). Only the Quadski seems to have a balance of performance on both, and it is limited to one, perhaps two people. Now a new technology threatens to seriously disrupt this marketplace. Fast Track Amphibian has entered the development phase for a product line of all-terrain amphibious vehicles using tracks as their means of propulsion on both water and land. Nearly all other amphibians comprise two drive systems – the FastTrack does it all with one, gaining a significant advantage in weight. The patent-pending technology that enables the tracks to work as the sole means of high-speed propulsion on water is unique. It enables a vehicle to “get out of the hole, over the hump and on to the plane from dead in the water. Videos of what this means in the real world can be found here. FastTrack equipped vehicles can start, stop and cruise on water like a boat as well as traverse diverse terrain, from ice and snow to swamps, deep mud, mountains and deserts - all at very high speeds. The first technology demonstrator can achieve 39 mph on water and 55 mph on land, all in comfort thanks to the air shocks and massive suspension system, which can be retracted or extended to suit the circumstance. The technology demonstrator carries six people at high-speed almost anywhere, giving it seemingly limitless opportunity in the areas of recreation, utility, search and rescue, ship-to-shore and military operations. Potential recreational uses include sports and racing, hunting and fishing, wilderness touring and camping. This vehicle will take you up a muddy hill in the forest better than a motorcycle, take swamp and tundra and ice and snow in its stride and enter and exit the water in almost any conditions … it is a genuine all terrain vehicle and transitions from one medium to another seamlessly. It makes very soft, comfortable, water entries at 40 mph and similarly smooth egresses at 20 mph. The first vehicles the company produces for non-military customers will be hand built and custom made for those who can afford to be the first owners of this unique machine. These vehicles will have aggressive styling, two or five place plush seating and 300 plus horsepower for speeds of 60 mph on water and 80 mph on land. More videos are available here, showing the FastTrack 1 driving down a country road, running on powder snow, pulling two water skiers, on the plane with tracks down and tracks up, a ramp entry into water at over 40 mph, and watch how easily it crosses this river. This short video shows the beastie doing 37 mph on water. Read More

Sealegs Unveils Amphibious Rescue Craft

By Mike Hanlon

November 15, 2006 Amphibious vehicle manufacturers Sealegs has unveiled a new amphibious rescue boat aimed at search and rescue roles with government agencies, fire departments and civil defence forces. The 6 metre Amphibious Rescue Craft (ARC) is constructed of marine grade aluminium for demanding field deployment applications. The Sealegs ARC has a base price of NZ$89,000 (US$58,850) and made its debut at the Big Boys Toys show in the company’s native New Zealand last week. With international demand for the company’s unique product now accounting for 80% of production, a new production facility is being readied to increase supply by a factor of four. Read More

Rinspeed Splash makes amphibious English Channel attempt

By Mike Hanlon

July 27, 2006 The English channel is without doubt the world’s busiest waterway, even before the raft of record attempts we have seen for amphibious vehicles in recent times. Yet another amphibious vehicle took to the waters this week, and although the outright amphibious vehicle record remained intact, and the amphibious car record also remained unscathed, there’s a new record for hydrofoil amphibians which has been set by Rinspeed and its outrageous Splash concept car. Read More

50 mph Quadski converts from Jetski to ATV in five seconds

By Mike Hanlon

Alan Gibb's Aquada and Humdinga high speed amphibious vehicles have been making the headlines for the last few years, partly because they work, partly because they have compelling feature sets and partly because the Aquada has set a few records, most notably in the hands of Sir Richard Branson. Now there's a new affordable Gibbs amphibian on the way that instantly becomes one of the most desirable recreational vehicles on the planet - it's both a quadbike and a jet ski and converts from one guise to the other at the touch of a button in under five seconds, using the 140 bhp motor to reach 50 mph (72km/h) on both land and water. The design offers a new class of recreational vehicle, along with a range of capabilities that make it ideal for life saving clubs, search and rescue, military, emergency services and aid workers who will be able to reach areas and people no two or four wheel drive vehicle could reach. Gibbs Technologies intends to license the design and technology for the Quadski and is seeking expressions of interest. Read More

The SeaLegs Anaconda Amphibious Concept

By Mike Hanlon

December 2, 2005 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. Read More

Sealegs unveils rugged aluminium amphibious craft

By Mike Hanlon

August 24, 2005: New Zealand-based Sealegs has unveiled an all-new aluminium amphibious craft. The 5.6m amphibious D-Tube features a 4mm marine grade aluminium hull with 3mm aluminium D-Tube shaped pontoons. An inboard air-cooled 16hp Honda engine powers hydraulic wheels motors, allowing the D-Tube to drive at up 10kmph on land and 60kmph on the water. Once in the water, a button is pushed to hydraulically retract the wheels and the Sealegs D-Tube becomes a normal sea-going boat. The boat is based on the boat which halved Sir Richard Branson's English Channel record in June. The standard SeaLegs boat cut the previous record of one hour, forty minutes and six seconds to 43 minutes and 12 seconds ( see pics inside of record).

Gizmag has covered a wide range of amphibious vehicles in recent times, including the original launch of Sealegs, the Gibbs Aquada Sportcar, the Gibbs Humdinga 4WD amphibian, the Platypus 4WD amphibian, the Rinspeed Splash, the Phibicat and the Amphicar. Read More

Sealegs amphibious boat now boasts all-terrain capabilities

By Mike Hanlon

Sealegs International today announced that it has developed a new all-terrain version of its amphibious marine craft. The new 5.6m Sealegs All Terrain Amphibious Craft (ATAC) can carry a payload of 500kg (6 adults) on land and sea will sell for US$65,000. The Sealegs ATAC has a top speed of 10kmh on land but is far more capable as a water-going amphibian. Once driven into the water, the Sealegs ATAC hydraulically retracts its wheels to allow speeds of up to 60kmh. Later this year Sealegs will make an attempt on the world record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel by an amphibious vehicle.

Gizmag has covered a wide range of amphibious vehicles in recent times, including the original launch of Sealegs, the Gibbs Aquada Sportcar, the Gibbs Humdinga 4WD amphibian, the Platypus 4WD amphibian, the Rinspeed Splash, the Phibicat and the Amphicar. Read More

Sealegs plans Rugged Amphibious Craft

By Gizmag Team

November 30, 2004 Sealegs amphibious vehicles can drive straight from land into the water using high-torque, motorised wheels and 'legs' that retract when the craft is afloat. The New Zealand company has unveiled designs for a new Rugged Amphibious Craft (RAC) targeting commercial, military and recreational applications which featues a 140hp inboard engine, jet drive and a solid aluminium hull. Read More

Four New Amphibious Vehicles

By Gizmag Team

With vast numbers of people living in coastal areas and on waterways, it was only a matter of time before a car and a watercraft were combined. Four companies have tackled the challenge in four entirely different ways. The Gibbs Aquada is a high-speed amphibian, can top 160 kmh on land and 50 kmh on water, and takes six seconds to transform from sportscar to jetboat. Conceived for a waterside lifestyle such as Sydney, Cannes or Miami, the British-built Aquada is powered by a 175hp V6 engine with an auto transmission linked to the fully-enclosed jet propulsion system. Getting into the water is as simple as driving down a boatramp and pushing the button - the accelerator becomes the throttle and the jet propulsion takes over. Read More

Sealegs amphibious boat powers over land and sea

By Mike Hanlon

Sealegs represents the first commercially available amphibious option for small boats available anywhere in the world, allowing the occupants to drive from a storage location into the water whilst staying high and dry inside the boat. Read More