A Whale Of A Boat: The Seataci Eco Yacht

By Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi

What’s more majestic than a whale? Enormous yet graceful, ancient yet mysterious, the whale has inspired everything from literature to music. And now, yachts. Engineer Charles Bombardier used the silhouette of the blue whale to create his latest design, an eco-luxe yacht designed for for Bombardier’s Seataci, an eco-conscious watercraft concept that utilises oscillating foils housed in a pair of side pods to propel itself.

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The yacht’s main hall is able to sink at least ten feet into the sea, providing passengers with an excellent view of what goes on in the marine world through the windows of the underwater lounges. Be prepared for some very 21st century amusements, too: this futuristic will also have a virtual reality hall deck – imagine, you could feel like you’re on safari or mountain climbing, whilst cruising on the sea!

The Interior will be designed to accommodate a dozen villas or fifty passengers. In fact, the Seataci could be scaled up to thousands of passengers for commercial use, but there are a few hurdles and other considerations for the designers to consider before bringing the boat to market, and naturally it all depends on demand.

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Being fuelled by hydroelectricity, the Seataci creates little disruption while speeding through the ocean and generates less underwater noise. This allows the environmental yacht to push through water by making slight waves, almost like a whale does with its tail. After all that is what inspired it in the first place: just like cetaceans, the vessel is conceived to move through water in a biomimetic way.

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The cabins are expected to be be in the part of the watercraft immersed by water, allowing guests to rest in an ambiance with large windows overlooking the marine world. The main deck features a couple of helipads and swimming pools surrounded by a tropical garden, and each vessel also comes with a fleet of semi-autonomous personal drones that are safe to fly and easy to operate.

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The cost of this eco yacht is estimated to be around $100 million. Much cheaper than the famous ‘Azzam’ eco Yacht commissioned by Khalifa al Nahyan (President of UAE) with an estimated price closer to $400 million. We shall see if the comparative good value of this yacht can excite any forward thinking investor and convince them decides to jump on board this green enterprise, promulgated by Montreal-based engineer Charles Bombardier in collaboration with Martin Rico, an industrial designer based near Buenos Aires (who also created these Seataci concept images).

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The first Seataci prototype could be made as an experimental vessel in partnership with the scientific community, ship builders and engine manufacturers. If these team up, the Seataci concept could then be engineered to take various shapes and sizes.

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If Herman Melville were alive he would have his Captain Ahab “quietly take to the ship” and quit with his whale-hunt in the name of sustainability: we like to imagine him sailing the Seataci guiding hundreds of his guests on board to discover the charms of the ocean world and instruct people on how to preserve its beauties.

All renderings credited to Martin Rico and courtesy of Charles Bombardier.

Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
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