A British design house is taking a glimpse into the future of motoryachting.
It’s a spaceship from the future! Only half true, it’s sure from the future, but it’s no spaceship, it’s a superyacht. It sure looks from outer space but it’s a concept superyacht designed by architect Jonathan Schwinge, a London based designer. The name is Tetrahedron Super Yacht, inspired by the geometrical form chosen. The concept moves away from traditional boat design and proposes a radical and simple enclosure and an elevated mode of travel above the water line.
The Tetrahedron is a three-based pyramid consisting of 4 faces and 6 leading edges. It’s a simple shape that provides fundamental stability and enclosure. It’s at the same time a hull and a superstructure. The hull has two working waterlines for its operation. At low speed the Tetrahedron sits onto three underbelly hulls. At high-speed, the whole structure will raise above the waterline and will give the appearance of levitating. This is produced by a HYSWAS (Hydrofoil Small Waterplane Area Ship) hull that is comprised of a single vertical strut and a submerged torpedo hull. The yacht will lift out of the water at speed on side-mounted adjustable hydrofoils. This means smooth travel through rough water with virtually no heeling and slamming. This means that seasickness will no longer be an issue.
The concept design of this HYSWAS craft is based upon an existing hull design developed by several companies like Maritime Applied Physics Corporations. The hydrofoil is also extremely efficient, long distances are achievable with reduced out-of-water drag.
Beside the sci-fi looks, this concept of yachting could come faster than we think. A real vessel like the one depicted would have 21.6 meters in length and a beam of 25 meters. It could carry six guests and will need a crew of 4. The range will be of 3,000 nautical miles. Slow water line speed is 12 knots, take-off speed is 15 knots, and “flying” speed above water is 38 knots.