Ugo’s spider cat, now in Cannes

OK, I’m grumpy, and don’t feel like thinking about electronics. Late on a deadline, in all day when the weather’s gorgeous, it happens. Plus I’m still sour that I’m not megayachting in Cannes, especially now that Proteus showed up there. You may have seen shots of this wacky catamaran when it mysteriously appeared in San Francisco Bay. Later I found the site of Ugo Conti’s Marine Advanced Research, where you can download an enormous .mov movie of this baby in motion. Actually, you may need to go through the press registration, but the video really tells the tale. Proteus is a WAM-V, or Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel. Those are gigantic hinges and springs attached to that inflatable hull. Even the drives articulate. In motion the damn thing undulates like a movie starlet slipping off a slithery dress.
  Electronics seem to be by Raymarine, but isn’t the real question that backwards prop behind the pod? (Hint: “Modular”). Hey, wouldn’t you be grinning too.

PS 5/23: Cool, the gCaptain found at least some of the video, and here’s another. But I want to see more undulation!