Watercraft

If you combined a stealth jet fighter and an attack helicopter and stuck them in the water, what would you get? Well, according to the folks at New Hampshire’s Juliet Marine Systems (JMS), you’d get their GHOST marine platform. Privately developed for possible use by the U.S. Navy, the boat would reportedly be invisible to enemy ships’ radar, while also being faster and more economical than existing military vessels. The company’s big claim, however, is that GHOST is the world’s first super-cavitating watercraft. Read More

If money is no object to you, but environmental concerns are, then LUXURY’s MIG 675 might be your kind of boat. The 22 x 8-foot (6.7 x 2.5-meter) cruiser seats three, has a top speed of 70 mph (113 km/h), and produces emissions consisting of nothing but water vapor – this sucker is hydrogen-powered. It's where that hydrogen reportedly comes from, however, that may really raise a few eyebrows. Read More

It may sound like the premise for the latest Pixar movie, but it’s actually happening – four small autonomous aquatic robots have embarked on a 60,000-kilometer (37,000-mile) journey across the Pacific ocean. The Wave Gliders, built by California-based Liquid Robotics, left San Francisco last Thursday. All four will travel together to Hawaii, at which point they will split into two pairs – one of those pairs will proceed to Australia, with the other heading for Japan. Called PacX (for “Pacific Crossing”), the project will constitute the longest voyage ever completed by an unmanned ocean vessel. Read More

Riding a high speed personal water craft (PWC) can be an exhilarating experience, but not everyone likes the adrenaline or the engine's roar. Aimed at those new to such water toys, or families with kids, the Waterbuggy is designed for calmer activities. Designed by the Turkey-based Bodrum Marine Group, the Waterbuggy offers a maximum speed of 8-10 km/h (5-6 mph) and can be reportedly operated by a child. Think of it as a combination of a PWC and a paddle boat, or a kind of floating bumper car. Read More

Of the various water toys for big boys that were unveiled at last week’s Cannes Boat Show, one of the more intriguing was the EXO, from French company EXOCONCEPT. Perhaps the best way of describing it would be to say that it’s like an electric Jet Ski, but the rider lies down on top of it in a prone position, instead of sitting on it. Read More

North Carolina’s Duke University has been grabbing some headlines over the past few years, due to research carried out there involving the use of metamaterials for creating functioning invisibility cloaks. Just this month, Duke researchers announced that they had developed another such material that could be used to manipulate the frequency and direction of light at will, for use in optical switching. Now, Duke’s Prof. Yaroslav Urzhumov has proposed that metamaterials could also be used to drastically reduce the drag on ships’ hulls, “by tricking the surrounding water into staying still.” Read More

Some readers may remember the incredible-looking biodiesel-powered Earthrace trimaran. Originally designed to circumnavigate the world, it ended up being donated to the Sea Shepherd Society, and was promptly rammed and sunk by a Japanese whaling ship. Well, while we may no longer have it to gawk at, a one-off watercraft that could almost be considered its gigantic, luxurious sibling is currently being constructed in China. Behold, the Adastra. Read More

We first came across the water-propelled jetpack from JetPack International early in 2009 and since then the company has changed its name to Jetlev Technologies and teamed up with German company MS Watersports GmbH to get the machine to market. Now the first JetLev R200 jetpacks are set to hit the water, and while it won't let you beat traffic on your daily commute – unless your home and workplace are conveniently located along the same body of water – it does look like a whole lot of fun. Read More

It may be 24 meters (79 feet) long, 10.5 meters (34.5 feet) wide and be able to carry up to 150 passengers, but the Eco Slim seagoing catamaran produces less of a carbon footprint than vessels much smaller than itself. There are two main reasons for this – its electric motors, which are powered by several onboard renewable sources, and its lightweight, streamlined hull, that allows it to move through the water using a minimum amount of energy. Created by Spain’s Drassanes Dalmau shipbuilders and launched on March 31st, it’s officially Europe’s largest “green” catamaran. Read More