It looks like a strange sea creature: an insect-like beast that stands 3 metres above the water and coasts along the surface of the waves. In fact it’s a fuel-efficient catamaran called WAM-V.
The craft’s acrylic body is held above the water on four aluminium “legs”, which are in turn mounted on titanium springs attached to its two 30-metre inflatable hulls. The springs allow the hulls to coast over the water, cutting energy consumption compared with boats that pierce the waves or push them aside. “Instead of fighting the waves, you just go with them,” says Isabella Conti of Marine Advanced Research in El Cerrito, California,…
