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Anthenea

This floatable flying saucer rests directly on the water, halfway submerged, and has enough room inside for James Bond to get busy with Major Anya Amasova. The reference to Bond girl Barbara Bach is not random: French naval architect Jean-Michel Ducancelle took his inspiration for the Anthenea from The Spy Who Loved Me. - Gizmodo

Good taste, Jean-Michel! That is also MY favorite Bond movie. The villain is shipping tycoon Karl Stromberg, who wants man to live in harmony with the sea.

Radical idea, Karl… radical.

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New Seaclipper 20

Multihulls make great camp cruisers… in theory. In practice, they are expensive and complex, cumbersome to launch and trailer, and just plain awkward in a monohull oriented environment. Until now. Jim Brown and his long time collaborator, Ron Marples, have at last created the VW microbus of multihulls - the new Seaclipper 20. The boat is simple to build, robust, a snap to rig and launch, safe, comfy and yes… even fast!

A standard used beach cat rig keeps the cost down and the performance up, and finally, a standard 7’ square dome tent converts the boat into a luxurious camp site! I am SO happy to see a new trimaran design that isn’t all carbon fiber and made in China.

Plans available at Searunner.com. Via SmallTrimarans.

Aye, Calypso!

The 100th anniversary of Commandant Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s birth is today. Today is also day 52 of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Thanks to the Horse’s Mouth for the pic.

Calypso, by John Denver

Proavocative Art

There are no more audacious multihull sailors, designers and builders on the planet than the French. The modern, post-war multihull boom may have begun in the U.S., but in 1936, it was Frenchmen Eric de Bisschop and Joseph Tatiboet who first pitched a tent on a secluded, shady spot of Waikiki Beach, to build Kaimiloa. The “mad Frenchmen” sailed safely back to France, via the Cape of Good Hope, and the French have been mad about multihulls ever since.

The French multi-mania includes proas (a particularly virulent strain) and designer Denis Kergomard appears to be particularly stricken. These are some of the best proa designs I have ever seen, and I’ve seen more than a few. Wild and organic, beautiful and dangerous, Kergormard’s vessels invite us into a field of dreams. Nautical art, indeed. See more after the jump, and do be sure to check out his body of work at Alibi Architecture.

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