The WAM-V, or Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel, or Proteus depending on how sciency you want to sound, is a new kind of boat that looks sort of like a catamaran and has been running around the San Francisco bay for a while confusing all onlookers. The boat features inflatable hulls that only dip into the water about a foot, and suspends the cabin beneath titanium spring-loaded struts to absorb the shocks that are sure to come when you’re charging through waves at the top speed of 70mph. With two 355hp diesel engines onboard and a range of 5,000 miles, it’s a $5 million wonder boat that is sure to please some lucky (and wealthy) boat lover.
Here’s my prediction for the hottest new toy this holiday season: Storm Launcher by Spin Master Toys. I know, I know, TMX Tickle Me Elmos are already going on eBay for hundreds of dollars, but we’ve played that game years ago, and try as they might, the Tickle Me Elmo stampedes are a thing of the past in my book. The Storm Launcher is like every possible remote controlled vehicle rolled into one. It’s a car, it’s a boat, and a plane, all at the same time. Though it lacks wheels, a hull, or any discernable wings, it can cross any surface, including: grass, sand, concrete, water, air, and space (probably not space). If only Ford could make real vehicles that do all that, they’d be out of their financial quicksand. Don’t want to crash your brand new toy and burst it into flames on your first day of learning how to control the thing? Perfect, slide it into beginner mode and away you go. Itching to do some tricks and impress the neighbors? That’s what expert mode is for. Sounds pretty cool huh? I thought so too. Pick up a few and hit the eBay express, this thing’s gonna be hot.
This is one customization trend that I hope never catches on. Pierce Your Ride offers, you guessed it, “piercings for your car, truck, motorcycle, boat, snowboard, ATV, and more”. I’m all for customizing your ride and all, but giving it a giant piercing? Definitely not my style. Supposedly, theses allow you to “rebel against conformity”, but I think anyone using one is just rebelling against taste. Be your own judge though, I may be wrong on this one (though I’m probably not), and these may be the next best thing since sliced bread (though they probably won’t).
The Discovery 1000 from US SUBS is one of the coolest sea going vessels I’ve ever seen. Designed to be used as both a boat and as a submersible, it’s made for launch and recovery from a superyacht (incase having your own helicopter to get from your boat to land just isn’t cool enough), and is available in 2 to 10 person versions. Inside, the occupants are treated to luxurious leather seating, air conditioning, and an almost entirely unimpeded view of the undersea surroundings. On the surface, the sub behaves similar to a boat, and the whole thing is controlled via a digitally proportional joystick and animated graphic touch screen display. The boat/sub has a range of 56 nautical miles and can dive to a depth of 1000 ft for up to 28 hours, traveling at a speed of 2 knots. If I had one of these, I’d put a CD player in it so I could listen to the James Bond theme song at every possible moment.
