Catamaran

Tucked away in one of the most distant corners of last week's Boot Düsseldorf show was one of the show's most interesting products: the ultra-versatile Klepper Backyak. It's a kayak that can hike to water's edge on your back. But it's also a sailboat, a snow sled and a floating sun deck.

Built to empower new adventures, the Trekkayak lets one hike deep into the wilderness and paddle his or her way back out. The lightweight inflatable catamaran packs fast and light in your backpack and inflates into a stable boat in minutes.

Back in the early 90s, MIT's Prof. Mark Drela created a human-powered hydrofoil known as the Decavitator. Inspired by the it, aerospace inventor Russell Randall created his own pedal-propelled airboat called the Seahorse – and you can now buy one of your own.

The new Flash Cat 67SC redefines the shape and packaging of the large, dual-hulled boat. Its cabin is lifted out from its usual confines below deck, offering an open, airy interior with big picture-window views out to sea.

While large and luxurious, Sunreef's line of catamarans isn't necessarily the pinnacle of speed. The company is set on changing that, injecting a serious mph upgrade by pulling its dual hulls out of the water with a new retractable hydrofoil system.

The Kormoran from the Austrian company of the same name can speed on (and above) the water as a catamaran, trimaran, monohull and hydrofoil, making it one of the most versatile vessels to ever hit the high seas.

Lakin Boatworks thinks that all you really need to enjoy the water is a flat deck, a couple of lounge chairs and a cooler chilling your drinks and food. That's pretty much the BeachRay Boat in a nutshell, with an outboard motor and simple controls to keep you moving.

Why don't we hear more about suspension systems for watercraft? Well, if the folks at Australia's Nauti-Craft have anything to say about it, we soon will. Their prototype 2Play catamaran incorporates an interlinked hydraulic suspension, that isolates the deck from the two hulls.

What's that? A boat, a helicopter, some type of seaplane? It's the Helicat 22. This unique watercraft won't take off into the air, but it uses a helicopter-influenced catamaran design for a fast, stable ride over choppy water.

This gravity-defying US$40k catamaran rises completely out of the water at speed on a pair of hook-shaped hydrofoils. It looks like the work of David Copperfield, but it’s real, and it’s set to start a revolution in the sailing world.

To help provide a better understanding of riverine areas, a team headed by José Barata and Pedro Santana of the University of Lisbon are developing a “marsupial” robotic system called Riverwatch that teams a robotic catamaran with an on-board hexacopter.

After four years of development and months of prototype testing, Platypus founder Francois Alexandre Bertrand and his team have decided on the final design for their Platypus underwater exploration vehicle that will be launched next year.