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Marine

Sealegs amphibious boat powers over land and sea

By Mike Hanlon
June 04, 2004
Sealegs amphibious boat powers over land and sea
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Anyone who has ever experienced the frustrating and often soaking-wet joys of launching and retreiving a boat can appreciate this New Zealand innovation. Sealegs represents the first commercially available amphibious option for small boats available anywhere in the world, allowing the occupants to drive from a storage location, down a boat ramp or beach and into the water whilst staying high and dry inside the boat.The Sealegs motorised, retractable and steerable boat wheels are fitted to a customised 4.7m rigid inflatable boat giving the user a variable speed of 0-10KPH in both forward and reverse - so it wont be useful on the freeway. The system is currently available on boats in the 4m - 6m size range with a total weight of up to 750kg.The patentpending concept from New Zealand uses powerful motorised wheels that are retracted when the boat is on the water. When in this position the legs are completely out of the water and the boat can be driven and used as normal. For the reverse situation, where the boat is returning to land, the Sealegs wheels are lowered whilst still in the water and the boat driven towards shore until the wheels touch the botom and the boat can be driven back up the beach.With the sheer convenience of driving the boat onto land, Sealegs is ideal for those lucky enough to reside on the waterfront, or for use as a luxury yacht tender. The Sealegs system utilises all submersible components and is Salt Water ready. Visit www.sealegs.co.nz to learn more.

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3 comments
Mike Hanlon
Mike Hanlon
As a photojournalist, Mike’s work has been published in a dozen languages across 20+ countries. He has edited or managed over 75 different print publications, each with a different target audience: sports, automotive, advertising, marketing, design, ad infinitum. Mike has been working in the internet for more than 25 years and was the veteran of five internet start-ups before founding New Atlas in 2002.

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3 comments
PizzaEater
Haaa, I invented AirLegs, retractable wheels for airplanes. The patentpending concept from America uses powerful motorised wheels that are retracted when the airplane is in the air. When in this position the legs are completely out of sight and the airplane can be flown and used as normal. For the reverse situation, where the airplane is returning to land, the Airlegs wheels are lowered whilst still in the air and the airplane flown towards ground until the wheels touch the ground and the airplane can be driven back up the taxi way.With the sheer convenience of driving the airplane on land, Airlegs is ideal for those lucky enough to reside on the airport, or for use as a luxury airplane tender. The Airlegs system utilises all painted components and is Air ready.
John in Brisbane
He he he you\'re a smart-#@% Pizza eater :-)
Calson
Actually more viable than the author of this article realizes. 99% of the places where one can use a boat do not have a boat launch ramp or a boat hoist. The only solution is to build a boat dock which adds considerable expense even if it is legal to build and likely to survive winter storms, which is highly unlikely.
All around the USA, Central America, the Caribbean, South Pacific, there are places where beach launches are not possible or where a boat trailer and expendable tow vehicle need to be used with the associated hazards. This is a great solution except that it is too small for widespread use. A 12\' size is the bare minimum to provide an effective solution for both private and commercial uses.