Proteus - A Bondian Boat?
Mr Martini
That nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,699MI6 Agent
I saw this boat featured on my local news the other night. I thought it looked very Bondian. I guess the writer of the below article thought so to.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/16498751.htm
(If you click the link there should be a picture of the boat with the article)
You call that a boat?
By Jeff Thomas
Mercury News
Gary Reyes / Mercury News
Dr. No, your escape vehicle is ready.
The 100-foot, spider-shaped contraption skimming around San Francisco Bay looked more like a James Bondian vessel than it did a new class of watercraft.
But that's exactly what its inventor, Ugo Conti of El Cerrito, says he's achieved.
After months of secrecy and increasing speculation in nautical circles, the odd-looking boat -- if that's the right word -- was finally unveiled Thursday morning.
Let's just say it's no Chris-Craft.
The catamaran-like vessel has inflatable hulls, sits only about a foot deep in the water, is powered by two 355-horsepower diesel engines and has a range of up to 5,000 miles.
Plus, the cool quotient is off the charts, in a geeky, sci-fi sort of way. Which may be one of the reasons it attracted three Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as investors -- Network Appliances co-founder Dave Hitz, Ezio Valdevit, a fellow at Brocade Communications and Pierluigi Zappacosta, co-founder of Logitech.
But Conti envisions the boat, named Proteus after an early Greek sea god, as much more than a rich person's pleasure craft.
Its relatively light weight, its range and its mobility suggest that potential uses could include search and rescue, ocean research and military applications.
For example, because it floats high in the water, scientists could use it to glide into environmentally sensitive shallows and lagoons. But its ocean-crossing capabilities, Conti said, mean it also could be used in long-range rescue or military operations. He wouldn't say what the top speed of the boat might be, although the patent Conti holds says it can travel 60 knots, which is about 70 mph.
All those factors make it different from traditional vessels, which are generally heavier, more expensive to build and maintain and harder to maneuver.
Representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard and several oceanographic organizations were present at the preview of the prototype.
On Thursday, a group of invited guests headed out into the bay on a charter boat from Pier 40 as the Proteus approached from under the Bay Bridge. The craft traveled in circles around the charter boat, accelerating and turning easily, and at one point glided slowly up to within a few feet of the stalled charter.
It looked like an alien creature out of ``War of the Worlds,'' but without the blood-sucking tentacles.
The boat's superstructure is attached to the six-chambered hulls by giant titanium springs that act as shock absorbers. In rough water, the hulls move with the waves, but the pilot's cabin and payload remain stable. The engines are fastened with hinges to the back of the hulls, so that the engines' propellers stay in the water even if a hull rises out of the water.
The cabin is fastened under the bridge, and a ``payload module'' is attached behind the cabin. That part of the craft is interchangeable and can be lowered to the water's surface. The module could be a rescue boat, or a set of scientific instruments, or a crew of soldiers.
``This represents a new way of going to sea,'' Conti said after putting Proteus through its paces. ``We believe it is an entirely new class of vessel.''
Conti and his wife, Isabella, vice president of his company, Marine Advanced Research, said the boat cost less than $5 million. Much of the material was donated to the project by sponsors such as Cummins Diesel (engines), Hewlett-Packard (computers), Autodesk (design software) and Wing Inflatables (hulls). Nor would they speculate about how much such a boat would retail for if you, say, wanted one for your visits to the lake.
``This is a prototype,'' Conti said. ``It can be customized in many ways, which would affect how much it costs.''
Hitz, the Network Appliance executive, said he put ``a couple hundred thousand'' dollars into the project because he's attracted to ``new technologies, the edges of things. I think this has a lot of potential.''
Conti and his team will spend the rest of the year on sea trials with the new craft, he said. They'll also be looking for potential buyers.
Lt. Cmdr. Sean Ryan, of the San Francisco Coast Guard station, was there strictly to observe. But he was impressed.
``We're very interested in the capabilities,'' he said.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/16498751.htm
(If you click the link there should be a picture of the boat with the article)
You call that a boat?
By Jeff Thomas
Mercury News
Gary Reyes / Mercury News
Dr. No, your escape vehicle is ready.
The 100-foot, spider-shaped contraption skimming around San Francisco Bay looked more like a James Bondian vessel than it did a new class of watercraft.
But that's exactly what its inventor, Ugo Conti of El Cerrito, says he's achieved.
After months of secrecy and increasing speculation in nautical circles, the odd-looking boat -- if that's the right word -- was finally unveiled Thursday morning.
Let's just say it's no Chris-Craft.
The catamaran-like vessel has inflatable hulls, sits only about a foot deep in the water, is powered by two 355-horsepower diesel engines and has a range of up to 5,000 miles.
Plus, the cool quotient is off the charts, in a geeky, sci-fi sort of way. Which may be one of the reasons it attracted three Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as investors -- Network Appliances co-founder Dave Hitz, Ezio Valdevit, a fellow at Brocade Communications and Pierluigi Zappacosta, co-founder of Logitech.
But Conti envisions the boat, named Proteus after an early Greek sea god, as much more than a rich person's pleasure craft.
Its relatively light weight, its range and its mobility suggest that potential uses could include search and rescue, ocean research and military applications.
For example, because it floats high in the water, scientists could use it to glide into environmentally sensitive shallows and lagoons. But its ocean-crossing capabilities, Conti said, mean it also could be used in long-range rescue or military operations. He wouldn't say what the top speed of the boat might be, although the patent Conti holds says it can travel 60 knots, which is about 70 mph.
All those factors make it different from traditional vessels, which are generally heavier, more expensive to build and maintain and harder to maneuver.
Representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard and several oceanographic organizations were present at the preview of the prototype.
On Thursday, a group of invited guests headed out into the bay on a charter boat from Pier 40 as the Proteus approached from under the Bay Bridge. The craft traveled in circles around the charter boat, accelerating and turning easily, and at one point glided slowly up to within a few feet of the stalled charter.
It looked like an alien creature out of ``War of the Worlds,'' but without the blood-sucking tentacles.
The boat's superstructure is attached to the six-chambered hulls by giant titanium springs that act as shock absorbers. In rough water, the hulls move with the waves, but the pilot's cabin and payload remain stable. The engines are fastened with hinges to the back of the hulls, so that the engines' propellers stay in the water even if a hull rises out of the water.
The cabin is fastened under the bridge, and a ``payload module'' is attached behind the cabin. That part of the craft is interchangeable and can be lowered to the water's surface. The module could be a rescue boat, or a set of scientific instruments, or a crew of soldiers.
``This represents a new way of going to sea,'' Conti said after putting Proteus through its paces. ``We believe it is an entirely new class of vessel.''
Conti and his wife, Isabella, vice president of his company, Marine Advanced Research, said the boat cost less than $5 million. Much of the material was donated to the project by sponsors such as Cummins Diesel (engines), Hewlett-Packard (computers), Autodesk (design software) and Wing Inflatables (hulls). Nor would they speculate about how much such a boat would retail for if you, say, wanted one for your visits to the lake.
``This is a prototype,'' Conti said. ``It can be customized in many ways, which would affect how much it costs.''
Hitz, the Network Appliance executive, said he put ``a couple hundred thousand'' dollars into the project because he's attracted to ``new technologies, the edges of things. I think this has a lot of potential.''
Conti and his team will spend the rest of the year on sea trials with the new craft, he said. They'll also be looking for potential buyers.
Lt. Cmdr. Sean Ryan, of the San Francisco Coast Guard station, was there strictly to observe. But he was impressed.
``We're very interested in the capabilities,'' he said.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope