The Waterborne Fighter Jet
Speedboats are nice and submersibles, well, they’re nice too – and we have already covered a personal submersible in the pages of Thoughts from the Sidelines. But as impressive as these modes of transportation/exploration are, there can be no doubt that a hybrid between the two is bound to get the pulses racing. And that is certainly the case with Innespace’s Dolphin.
Resembling a cross between a submersible, a speedboat and an agile fighter jet, Innespace’s high performance Dolphin is as at home on the water as it is under it and is capable of a range of frankly astounding waterborne aerobatics that are certain to make you the talk of the beach. In short, this is more than possibly one of the coolest watercraft you are ever likely to come across. Period.

The secret of the Dolphin’s agility is the combination of a powerful means of propulsion linked with the sole use of its fins to power the vessel underwater rather than relying on adapting the craft’s level of buoyancy via traditional techniques (standard submersibles use a method of controlled sinking – using ballast – to dive underwater). This allows the Dolphin to achieve an unparalleled degree of freestyle performance as, not only can it skim across the water at impressive speeds, but it can also power itself below the water’s surface, perform barrel rolls and even jumps, as the video presentation provided below illustrates.
[etv]
(On a side note – the choice of the backing track to the above video alone should be applauded).
The specifications of the Single Seat Dolphin are as follows;
- Vessel Type:VASH (variable attitude submersible hydrofoil)
- Cockpit: F-16 Single Seat fighter jet canopy (un-pressurised)
- Controls: Independent dive planes and ruddervators
- Fuselage: Monocoque (Fibreglass, Kevlar & vinylester)
- Canopy: Acrylic & Polycarbonate
- Length: 14’ 6”
- Beam: 2’ 10”
- Wingspan: 6’ 10”
- Dry Weight: 980 lb
- Max Surface Speed: 30 mph
- Max Submerged Speed: 20 mph
- Max Depth: 10’
- Snorkel Depth: 2’
- Engine: Yamaha 2 stroke 1100cc (110hp)
- Safety Devices: Impact resistant canopy, 4 point safety harness, bullet-proof material firewall, 2 bilge pumps & buoyancy for emergency flotation.
The sad news is that the company are not, as yet, offering the Dolphin for resale – though a two-seater is presently in production – as they are only offering the craft on a display and lease basis.
Hopefully this will change in the near future, though the pricing structure of such a vessel will no doubt leave most of us in the wings merely able to look on longingly.

You can access Innespace’s website for more information on the Dolphin project as well as a display schedule via this link.


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