Project Kiteboat
If you haven’t herd of The Kiteboat Project (http://project.kiteboat.com/), you need to drop what you’re doing and take a peak. They’ve designed a totally awesome foiling craft. It uses a software driven kite, giving this particularly special boat control that just wasn’t there before. The lateral and upward forces created by the kite not only allows for unparalleled speed, but also reduces the amount of lift needed from the hydrofoils. It’s a win win.
Once upon a time it was a part of Makani (http://www.google.com/makani/), now owned by Google. They were on a collective mission to build the next generation of high output wind turbines, and the technology they developed to control their new high altitude wind generation kites also allowed them to create this new beast of a vessel.
With vast applications for marine efficiency gains, it will be exciting to see where this one goes and how it can be used to help the marine industry.
I know you want to know what it’s like to ride on this puppy, just click the video below.
Badass Level: 9











