Posted on 11/07/2006 11:04:18 AM PST by FLOutdoorsman
Sightings - A pontoon vessel passes through Ilwaco, Wash., but those involved with the strange boat aren't talking
It looked like Spiderman's own ride, a 99-foot mystery craft resembling a monstrous metallic spider riding on two pontoons. It emerged from a fog bank to dock at the Port of Ilwaco, Wash., then left the next day with the crew refusing to talk.
Even as answers on who built the boat are now surfacing, the vessel remains an enigma. Pictures of the craft shoot across cyberspace while chat sites ponder just what the boat could be used for. But the inventor remains mum.
It turns out that a California inventor named Ugo Conti holds a patent for such a vessel. Conti, who has nine other registered patents, owns a company called Marine Advanced Research, in El Cerrito, Calif. He could not be reached for comment, but Conti's wife, Isabella, acknowledged the craft was owned by Marine Advanced Research. She said everyone involved with the boat was operating under strict confidentiality agreements.
"We're planning a press conference in January, given that the boat is not yet finished," she said.
She offered no more details.
The boat first began drawing curious stares when it surfaced in September.
In the Olympic Peninsula village of Sequim, Wash., in mid-September, people were shocked when they saw the bizarre vessel offshore. Was it military? Could it be a private yacht? No one could get close.
By Sept. 29, it had moored overnight on the southern Washington coast at the Port of Ilwaco, allowing photographers to document the boat's existence and spread the news through the yachting community.
"When we saw it, the fog was coming in and all you could see was the legs, and it was like, 'where did the big spider come from?' It was creepy," said Melissa Stern, who works at the Port. "It generated a lot of interest."
The crew, dressed in civilian clothes, slept on board and declined to discuss their craft. The boat carried no identifying marks, as is typically required for all motorized vessels. The U.S. Coast Guard in Washington, D.C., said it had no record of such a vessel. The next morning the boat vanished out to sea.
The crew did leave behind clues, however.
After docking and paying the moorage fees, the captain of the vessel wrote in Port records that it was owned by Advanced Marine Research Inc. and had a registration number of DL 0899 AA. That number meant it was registered in Delaware. A spokeswoman for the boat licensing arm of the state said the details contained in boat registration records were private, except for the fact the vessel had just recently been registered in Delaware. Yet the boat apparently was manufactured only recently -- in Washington.
The mystery ship was apparently built in Anacortes, Wash., under the direction of Jim Antrim, a California yacht designer. A call to his office resulted in a polite no comment, echoing Isabella Conti's confidentiality agreement.
A call to the Dakota Creek shipyard in Anacortes was not returned. The boat had been seen there this summer, said a spokesman for the harbor master's office.
Ugo Conti's patent, approved in April 2005, offers some clues, describing the craft this way:
The boat is ". . . an entirely different type of vessel that creates the minimum possible disruption of the waves. In other words, this vessel does not push, slap or pierce the waves but instead 'dances' with them. . . . The vessel has a pair of flexible hulls flexibly coupled to a 'cabin' between and above the hulls, thereby allowing the hulls to independently follow the surface of the water. Motor pods are hinged to the back of the hulls to maintain the propulsion system in the water. . . ."
The patent lists possible uses as rescue or patrol vessels, pleasure craft, military uses or research vessels for deployment of submarines or other instruments.
The patent notes the boat could potentially move at 60 knots or more per hour with a range of 2,000 miles.
After leaving Ilwaco on Sept. 30, the boat was not seen again until early October, when it moored at the Marine Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond, Calif.
As of Monday, it was still tied up in San Francisco Bay. A spokesman for the moorage said he was not allowed to discuss the vessel.
Peter Sleeth: 503-294-4119; petersleeth@news.oregonian.com
Yes! It came to me about two minutes ago.
*urp*! So much for trying to keep your dinner down....
Thanks for the pic link drb9.
Grand Funk Railroad lyrics
I'm Your Captain
Everybody, listen to me,
And return me, my ship.
Im your captain, Im your captain,
Although Im feeling mighty sick.
Ive been lost now, days uncounted,
And its months since Ive seen home.
Can you hear me, can you hear me,
Or am I all alone.
If you return me, to my home port,
I will kiss you mother earth.
Take me back now, take me back now,
To the port of my birth.
Am I in my cabin dreaming, or are you really scheming,
To take my ship away from me?
Youd better think about it, I just cant live without it.
So, please dont take my ship from me.
Yeah, yeah, yeah ...
I can feel the hand, of a stranger,
And its tightening, around my throat.
Heaven help me, heaven help me,
Take this stranger from my boat.
Im your captain, Im your captain,
Although Im feeling mighty sick.
Everybody, listen to me,
And return me, my ship.
Im your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Im your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Im your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Im your captain, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Im getting closer to my home ...
Im getting closer to my home ...
Im getting closer to my home ...
Im getting closer to my home ...
Ohhhh ...
Im getting closer to my home ...
Im getting closer to my home ...
Im getting closer to my home ...
Im getting closer to my home ...
Repeated to fade
LOL!
Wonder what the "point" is.....
Advantages??
Looks like a top heavy catamaran
The cabin appears to be dead center, hanging a bit like the gondala from a blimp.
That used o be the case, not it's really international. Dennis Conner took it from Newport, RI to San Diego before letting it slip off to Australia. Now the Kiwi's are into it bad, too. It will be some time before it returns to newport, I fear.
No 90 degree angles - very stealthy, for one thing.
Looks like the "cabin" is itself,a boat,that can be lowered from the pontoon frame.Perhaps the cat. pontoons are for rough seas and then the boat can be lowered for high speed,close in extraction/deployment?
Ride Captain Ride
Great tune by a great Tampa/Miami rock band.
Imagine beaching it, and the pod drops to become a landing craft. Rapid small force deployment.
Tamiami Rock?........
Good point.
We talked to Ugo last week about his craft. I can't say too much because he told us in confidence. We were sailing and saw him pass by. I have some close-ups too but I'd have to find them.
"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" You better Watch out you better not cry, you better not pout i'm tellin' you why, Santa Claus is coming to town, he's making a list checkin it twice, he's gonna find out whos naughty or nice, Santa Claus is coming to town the boys and girls in toyland will have a new physiqe there gonna build a toy land all around the christmas tree. You better watch out you better not cry you better not pout i'm tellin' you why Sants Claus is coming to town Santa Claus is coming Santa Claus is coming he's coming to town
Yep....I can see that.
Ping to post #57.
"Advantages??"
Speed. Multi-hulled vessels are very fast for what they carry.
I've always thought Aircraft Carriers should be catamarans --- although given how they pitch, maybe tough to land.
LOOKS LIKE THE BOTTOM FELL OFF SANTA'S SLEIGH.........
Yeah saw that. Many advantages to that. As a sailboat owner I know the disadvatages of a boat being "in" water. Water is your enemy. Maybe if the footprint was smaller.....but for the size of the "cabin" compared to the footprint....totally nonfeasible.
"very stealthy, for one thing."
Except for that big cabin dangling high above the water line.
(Not that this couldn't be fixed.)
That's okay. I'll keep Santa's Secret..............
An old prop from "Waterworld"
Nice pics. Where are the motors? Are the pontoons also the fuel tanks? I wonder how the ride is.
An old prop from "Waterworld"
That would explain why nobody recognizes it.
Lovey....Loveeeeyy...Where is the Flying Squirrel?
We have to get back to Louisburg Sq so. we can vote for that African-American fellow for govenor.Lovey,where are you?.......
How would we know? It's a secret.
" Where are the motors?"
Picture link has a close up. Looks like basic inboards to me. Presumably goes quick with very little power.
I bet this thing could even go in the Swamps of Florida pretty well.
I see now.The "drop boat" is behind the cabin,reversed with the bow pointing to the rear of the cat.The retractable boat is enclosed,leading me to think it's an unmanned water craft.The cabin is the control room.
Here is Ugo in the boat. I took this last week.
It is obviously a manganeese nodule dredge.
hang some lasers off of it
its got independent suspension to isolate it from instabilities in water so you can fix on a target
there is really nothing there for someone to target and effectivel hit......
Frankly, I prefer the first generation alternate use posting #21
Looks like it's designed to pick up and carry something between the pontoons. Containers? It's certainly not stealthy, so it's not military.
dances with wolves?
I loved that movie.
Look at the drop boat behind the cabin.It's stealthy.
looks like a catamaran with shock absorbers..
I want one
That's totally insane!
It is obviously a manganeese nodule dredge.
It appears to be made of Carbon Fiber or Kevlar............
That was a great story. I remember reading about it as a kid in Popular Science or Popular Mechanics. I bought the cover story hook, line and sinker.
(October 19, 2006) Do you have info on this craft? So far we have learned that it was designed by prolific Bay Area yacht designer Jim Antrim from Ugo Conti's original concept; it's 100 feet long and 50 feet wide; it's powered by twin diesel engines; the inflatable hulls were built by Arcata's Wing Inflatables; the craft was assembled in Anacortes, WA (where it was spotted several times during apparent sea trials); and it's capable of crossing oceans with "as much, if not more, stability than a normal catamaran," according to Jim Antrim. (info from Latitude 38; provided by John Verdoia).
Scuttlebutt spoke with Jim Antrim, but he remains tied to a confidentiality agreement he signed with Ugo Conti's company, Marine Advanced Research. Upon contacting Marine Advanced Research, Isabella Conti replied that "the boat is not quite finished yet and I am not at liberty to disclose information at this time. There will be a press conference at some point and, if you are interested, we will send you an invitation and/or a press kit at that time."
Scuttlebutt is now on the press list, and we will provide any further information whenever Conti is ready to provide it. In the meantime, we have provided some links to patents that have been filed.
It’s a “top secret” research vessel, it’s inflatable, the cross arms are completely hinged on the hull joins, it’s owned by Ugo Conti of Marine Advanced Research.
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