Gigasurf concept...

[Canuck-Surfer]

Anyone heard about this? If you thought the G22E was pricy, it’s got nothing on this. Just imagine the regulations that will come if this beast actually makes it to market.

https://robbreport.com/motors/marine...ui-1234594145/

[Canuck-Surfer]

Maybe a future PN Gigasurf...

I think they need to work on their above waterline design. It looks like a cross between a tug boat and a maritime lobster boat.

[Nautiquehunter]

And I thought the 300K paragon was crazy for 600K you can live in Hawaii and surf real waves?

[bturner]

This hit another forum yesterday. Besides not knowing how to shave these guys have no clue on wakesurfing. They may both be great riders with years of surfing experience but the simple logistics on this true surf ship doesn't work. Right off the bat who you selling this to? Where are you going to ride with this monster other than a great lake or the ocean? Do you really think any large inland lake or reservoir that is battling with wake restrictions now is going to allow this ship on their waters?

Past the wake the next impractical aspect is falling riders. So your rider falls 100' after getting up, then what? You're going to loop this monster back to pick them up? You'd probably better off having a couple jet skis around to pick up the fallen and pull them back into the wake.

Doesn't look like a lot of thought was put into this past the bong induced initial concept that brought about this idea.

[markj]

Agree with bturner and would add: This is a regurgitated story. This never-gonna-happen concept was first released and talked about maybe a year+ ago. Not sure why it popped up again. It’s still not gonna happen. Anyone else notice there’s no driver in the photoshopped boat? Lol. Also, the scale of the wave vs rider vs boat is so far off, it’s like this thing is just a practical joke. Just imagine the liability attached to generating a wave like they’re claiming is possible. No way. No how. Ain’t happening. I guess it does serve a purpose by giving us something to talk about mid winter...

[Canuck-Surfer]

I’m really surprised that they claim one of the chief engineers from Regal Boats is leading this project. You’d think that he would have his head screwed on more straight if he worked designing Regal boats.


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[greggmck]

I don't know if this concept will fly but before dismissing it entirely perhaps consider it is intended for ocean use for days when there are no waves? There is no driver because it claims to be autonomous (the technology is far simpler on the ocean than in busy streets). Finally it would be purchased by surf clubs for far lower cost than current land based surf ranches. Still think it's crazy?

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[SilentSeven]

Yeah...I could see the ocean resort owner crowd buying into this. Prolly don't need to sell too many to make the numbers work. Burner raises some interesting questions on logistics like pickups etc....but I wouldnt rule this out just yet.

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[bturner]

Autonomous diving and easy don't often come up together in the same sentence. You have Tesla's driving through tractor trailers and you want to have an autonomous boat picking up a fallen rider bobbing around in the water? While the "not hitting stuff" in the open ocean may be easier than driving on a street, an autonomous boat would have to take into consider weather conditions, tide, depth, wind, current, floating objects and let's not forget you have to dock that monster with all the before mentioned conditions. If anything I think a fully autonomous ship for water sports activities would be more difficult than a car.

Before the Vid I used to go to one of the big 3 automotive companies as a vendor. On the campus they always have autonomous vehicles testing on the campus streets. Saw one jump the curb one day while the ride along inside was panicking. Yeah that technology is far from ready for prime time. It's coming but not too soon.

It's good to have dreamers but yeah, I still think its crazy.

[greggmck]

I never said autonomous driving was "easy", I said it was "far simpler on the ocean than in busy streets". I know of several companies working on this technology. And a rider is a manageable target for the boat to track and not ever hit using a number of technologies (Lidar, Cameras, GPS, etc) regardless of the current. Picking up a surfer is a well defined pattern (unless your driver is a beginner, drunk or both). It is a far simpler problem to solve compared to managing an automobile on a busy city street. This technology is being adapted to the water and you will see it in stages over the next few years. First it will be available as autonomous cruise, then more challenging capabilities like rider pickup and docking will arrive.

Clearly there are problems with any new technology that make the news and some point to these as reasons it will never work. Astronauts have died going to space but we still were successful in that endeavor. Autonomous technology is no different than any new revolutionary technology and has/will have some accidents before it is perfected, but of course no one was ever maimed or injured by a drunk or incompetent boat/automobile driver right?

[MikeC]

I love new technology arguments. Who really knows what will work and what won't work or what will or won't be accepted? In 1900 if you had 50 horses in your stable and someone brings along a new fangled car for you to drive to town - you're going to think he's crazy and keep your 50 horses. Time and perception are only ways to determine how a new product will be accepted.
This boat isn't fixing a problem, but it might be developing a niche market - then again neither did the automobile, people did just fine with horses and buggies for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Regarding your problem of picking up a downed rider - just because we don't see a solution to a problem doesn't mean there isn't one.
Will you see one in your local lake? Probably not. Will you see one at a resort in Dubai or St Maarten? There's a good chance - if it actually works. According to the article it hasn't even reached the model phase to test the wake shape.

[markj]

Once again, this is an old article someone just puked up again. Not much has changed since the last time they played it. If this is such a sure thing, why is the developer “working on his kite surfing” in Costa Rica? This has all the self-promotion/paid advertisement markings of an article on a Kardashian.