Posted 11.29.2011 at 6:15 pm
17 Comments
The Iguana 29
Eric Sander via Gizmag
Amphibious vehicle designs always sounds great on paper, but in practical use they tend to sink more often than swim. It’s not so much that they don’t work, but that they tend to handle either land or water well, with the other being an afterthought (not to mention they solve a problem that most people simply don’t have). But we’d be lying if we said the Iguana 29 didn’t catch our eyes this afternoon.
Like the aforementioned amphibious craft, the Iguana 29 is suited more for the water. It’s a 29-foot speed boat with a 35-knot top speed over water and seating capacity for up to ten. But closer to land it can deploy retractable caterpillar tracks that can carry it across dry ground at up to five miles per hour. That’s not very fast, but that’s not why the Iguana 29 is cool.
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Technology, Clay Dillow, amphibious vehicles, boats, cars, iguana 29, speed boats, transportationIn other words, it’s less an “amphibious vehicle” and more a decent watercraft that can effectively handle dry land conditions when necessary--ostensibly a pretty good thing to have around if you’re living in an area with wildly varying tidal conditions or doing a lot of island hopping or cross-bay traversing. And all you need is $290,000 to get on board.
[Gizmag]
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I think this is a great boat, and with the extendable\retractable track; great idea! I see a lot of potential for this amphibious vehicle. I just hope it easy to maintain and dependable too.
this looks like a fun ride, id like to have one
Awesome! What kind of trailer does this need?
sa bit expensive but at least youll never get stuck on sandbars again
Great, just another purposeless invention of man. Not to be to negative but something like this won't get you to far in life.
________________________
where will you spend eternity?
Awesome! I don't have to back my truck into the water anymore! I just have to tow my boat to the launch then take it off the trailer... wait it doesn't do that on its own?
Seriously though I like the thought of being able to pull up to that 'little beach over there'.
now we just need to put some guns and armor plating on it, then invent a time machine, and then go back to normandy. shouldnt take too long.
-Knock knock
-Who's there?
-The Doctor.
-Doctor Who?
-Yes
Too bad the Army didn't have these during the landing in Normandy, France on D-Day. They could have sped right up to the sea by the thousands and kept on going instead of having their troops drown by the hundreds when they had to 'de-boat' far from shore (the weight of their gear drown hundreds). They also could have been more effective at moving blocking materials out of the way so the troops could get quicker to safety.
They would probably need about 15-20 mph on land capability though to be effective.
Interesting idea though for the armed services.
I can see this actually becoming a standard on some boats, if it's eventually made a little more cost-effective. Search and rescue without the worry of grounding your vessel would be extremely handy.
whoever that guy is saying this will not get you far in life needs to get a life. This innovation will take you further than you've ever been. Maybe you cant use this but countless others could do amazing things with this.
It may not be incredibly practical in general. whoever says it will get you nowhere in life is missing the crafts key benefit.....Two words......CHICK MAGNET!!
My only question would be if it has strong enough hydraulics to make its transition while only partially in the water (in the case of being grounded in boat mode). If not that is a large part of its emergency applications down the tubes.
Speaking of tubes, I am additionally surprised that for this type of application they would not use a water jet/impeller propulsion system.
Wow! So futuristic! But not any more. Wink. I used to dream about this stuff but no more. With armor and guns this should make a great weapon.
I can't believe what these people have done.They don't care about wildlife.There could be turle eggs in the sand.That machine could just crush them!SAVE THE TURTLES!!!And there is wildlife in the sea.Corals,fish,and most important,TURTLES!!!
And no, don't tell me to chill out!THINK ABOUT THE TURTLES!!THE TURTLES!!!!!=()
are the turtles ninjas????
I wonder how it would do in really mucky tidal areas. I bet that tread would sink right in to the mud. Better yet try beaching on the Maine coast where there are large boulders and kelp covering everything. there's no way that thing would get on those beaches. And why doesn't it have jet propulsion instead of a clunky outboard? Probably something to do with ground clearance. Still its nice to see a finished product instead of just an idea that never leaves the drawing board.