Here's a rogue from the 1000 Islands; my father used to Captain for this line but he never wanted this under him. Said there was 10 tons of ballast just to keep the bow up ...
We have a winner! I started browsing through the photos from Milow232's post about Azzam and found this unbelievable vessel. I don't know if I should copy the photo over here, but this is the link for what could be the new rogue king...Perfekt - Bild & Foto aus Motoryachten - Fotografie (31814904) | fotocommunity
Sonnenkönigin This "ship" is located and was build on the Lake Constanze and flying the Austrian Flag. Because this lake has no connection (for ships) to any ocean, thanks god, it will never see one of them. It is designed as an pure Eventcruiser / Partyboat and is allowed to carry a pretty large amount of people during her "cruises" on the lake. So it can be assumed (and hoped), her stability was calculated correctly. When it gets stormy on the lake Constanze (which happens quite often, it is called Fönsturm) all boats are recalled via a public alert system and all public tourist boats are landlocked by the authorities. So it will hopefully never encounter heavy seas in her life. BTW, she was mentioned already on this forum some years ago. For sure, she would still get my vote to be the winner in this contest.
Beauty is in the mind of the beholder. Guess ugly is too. To me she is just sort of too much. The concept of the glass and view and the entertainment nature of the boat is quite logical. However, the extreme to which they took it is a bit much for me. That said, it does seem to serve it's designed purpose quite well, plus I'm sure gets a ton of attention.
Sonnenkönigin versus American Queen It is very hard to compare those two ships. If you compare the two hulls with their totally different hull shape and block coefficient and the distribution of weight in conjunction with their low freeboard, American Queen is a more stable ship. Also both ships are not seaworthy for ocean cruise, Sonnenkönigin would have never gotten the permission for cruising on rivers with more than very low current. I doubt very much, Sonnenkönigin would survive a 180 turn on the Missisippi river comming downhill at a speed of 16 Kts plus current, without capsizing. I would never attend a river cruise on her. Whereas would I have no problem at all, sleeping in a cabin on the top deck of American Queen during a river cruise. Static stability is one thing. Both ships must have past some kind of certification for their specific purpose. The Lake Constanze and the Missisippi River are not the Yellow River in China . But I do not want to see the stability curve or the result of a recalculation of the damage stability of both ships as done on ferries or RoRo Ships. That why those big floating boxes do not belong onto the seven seas. BTW, I love those Missisippi Steamers, pure romantic !!!!
Its probably a very comfortable "wet coast" boat...from the low tide, it looks like B.C. or Alaska. And practical: roomy, on deck anchor winch, a small covered aft deck but nice fly bridge, looks keel cooled, good visibility from wheelhouse, sensible electronics (looks like) and in pristine condition. Somebody (a seasoned cruiser or live-aboard) is very happy in my estimation. Form following function, eh! Cheers, Richard.
Fast Floating Egg (FFE) That floating egg was moving around in the harbour of Pt. Hercules during the MYS 2013. Looks in reality much worse than on a picture. It must have escaped from a Disneyland, where it was part of a water ride.
Could be cute little limo boat. Color theme the bubble. Oh and put like ribs around the outsides so it can bounce off the docks like bumper cars or something cause we know how water taxis hit the docks. The little bubble accommodations look good inside and underneath just a basic boat. Tour the city on our bubble boat. Easy to pick out. Noticeable everywhere. I think baby blue for the bubble. Although could go with a neon color. I mean looks like good weather protection and good visibility. I think it could have potential. You dudes just need to open your minds. Anyone got a link to it? Like specs and things? Reminder, VW Beetle had to be ugliest thing ever seen or so they thought. PT Cruiser was latter day ugliest and huge success. Don't underestimate our love for unique. We made fun of old timer's station wagons and then we fell in love with them again but just called them SUV's. I mean seriously for something where really standing out and being different was an advantage like water taxi, I could see this thing.
Jet Capsule I like this version even more. That is a serious tender. The recoil of the rearward facing gun can be used for propulsion .
Went to their website and had hubby make an inquiry. I want one. Well, doubt we'll get one. Don't know the price but the perfect little boat to tool around the canals. Ok, maybe not. I don't know. But sure has me curious. Anyone have any idea of cost of one? We've asked the builder. Probably too heavy for a tender.
They were on display at Monaco this year. http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/boat-shows-yacht-watching/21323-monaco-yacht-show-2013-a-4.html#post181422
Jet Capsule I have a serious question for our fast planning boat specialists here on YF. Can this 23 x 12 ft (L/W ratio less than 2 : 1), 3900 lbs, 630 HP, top heavy piece of "plastic fantastic" be savely operated at or above 30 Kts. I am not sure but my gut instincts would make me worry.
Actually looking at their web site now that someone posted here and got Belle interested, I found that the smaller one they put a limiter on to restrict it to 30 knots and the larger one doesn't reach those speeds either. I even read something about top end of 25 knots so not sure. I couldn't get the zip file to download. I'm not sure the base model is too top heavy. Certainly some of the variations are. I personally wouldn't operate it at higher speeds, although perhaps trying one I might feel different. But then I don't go 40 knots in my jet tender either except briefly in perfect conditions. But on the jet capsule the underlying hull is a basic stepped V hull. The handling might be surprising. It's difficult to just remove the top in one's mind and think of the basic hull structure. The thing I couldn't find so have asked for is the weight. That might tell us something.
One more candidate for our contest This beauty was chained by the German authorities for some time, because they could not be convinced by the owner, that it was a Dutch yacht , as labelled in its paperwork. B.t.w. the horse on the upper deck was real. He had actually two horses living in that tent in front of the wheelhouse. The owner was finally able to talk the authorities into a special permit to leave Germany on the shortest way possible, towards the Netherland, because he was unable to pay for the mooring and shorepower. The local animal protectors provided some hay for the horses . Also the seaworthiness of that vehicle was in question, the only item checked, was the neccessary amount of fuel available just to cross the border . What would the world be, without boats ?
Looks familiar Probably built around 1986 to 1988 at the Salt River Marina in St. Croix..? I was a live aboard there and remember the strange cats they cranked out. (One of them broke the bows sideways in rough weather and limped back to the factory) Now this thing is again in my neighborhood, but in Fort Lauderdale..