London, Aug 17 (IANS) It would do James Bond proud, resembling as it does a great white shark that can dive under water, flip from side to side, jump into the air or dash across a lake at 80 kmph.
Known as the Seabreacher X, the 16.5 feet-long shark lookalike has a dorsal fin, gaping jaws and rows of sharp jagged teeth like its real counterpart, powered by a 260 hp engine and co-created by Rob Innes, a watersports fanatic, reports the Daily Mail from the US.
‘This isn’t a submarine – you’re not going to visit the Titanic in it,’ Rob warns. ‘It’s more of a cross between a plane and a boat, and we’ve been improving the models constantly so they can do more and more tricks.’
The fibreglass Seabreacher, which reminds you of ‘Jaws’, doesn’t come cheap at 60,000 pounds. Rob, 37, along with friend Dan Piazza, 52, has converted his hobby into a roaring business.
The duo built their first submersible 12 years ago. Today the rich are lining up to buy the customised toys even though they have to wait a whole year.
‘The seabreacher is really for people with a large disposable income who want to have fun,’ explains Rob.
‘It’s pretty popular in the Middle East, but we’ve also sold them to clients in Korea and the Caribbean.’
Rob and Dan are giving a demonstration on Whiskeytown Lake, just outside Redding, California, US, on the Seabreacher X’s maiden passenger voyage.
Seabreacher X is a compact two-seater. So the passenger has to squeeze in alongside Rob for the exhilarating ride. Rob keeps in touch with Dan on the shore through a radio.
Each unit of Seabreacher shark takes a team of seven people three months to build. The latest one is the ninth Seabreacher to be rolled out by Innespace and they still have 31 more orders to execute.
‘We’re not interested in making a mass-market product,’ says Rob, ‘just one-off pieces that we customise for each buyer.’ They recently made one for a client in Dubai, with air conditioning.
‘The next one we’re building should allow us to roll a lot quicker,’ says Rob cheerfully. ‘We’re also trying to get those barrel (360-degree) rolls sorted.’
Operating the Seabreacher is fairly easy, says Rob. ‘Unlike a boat where you have left and right, fast and slow, this is more like an aircraft. You have to think about pitch, roll and yaw.’
The presence of the Seabreacher on the lake always draws hordes of admiring onlookers.
