Nereus, kite-powered water craft concept
Using wind to get from place A to place B is quite unusual for most of us. But, how about about the Nereus, the water pad racer for adrenaline junkies? Inspired by kite sailing, these pix are aconceptual design of a kite-powered water craft capable of achieving relatively high speeds both on and under the water.
Inspired by ET?!
Though I’m not sure if how much of a storm is necessary to get your 200 lb body out of the water with all that sea drag, I’ll have to believe the designers when they say the design of the vessel and the kite is sufficient. Controlling the Nereus is just as easy as riding a bike they say. All you have to do is turn the handlebars which are attached to the kite. To dive, just push down.
Though we wouldn’t expect to go from Newport Beach to Long Beach, even if you’re well trained to use wind power, the Nereus sure looks capable to deliver. I’m game for test-driving it.
Anyone else?
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waw,this invention would be awesome.
i would like one of this
It looks pretty cool. I’m thinking this will only be one of those concepts that never really take off. Like the Segway
Ya, Brad we’re definitely disappointed ourselves because it may never take off. Wouldn’t you try it though? At least to rent one while on a vacation on the beach
Looks really cool. Has a couple fatal design flaws though. The main one is that the designer obviously has never had any exposure to kite surfing. When you kite surf (or sail kite powered Catamarans as I did in Maui), the kite doesn’t pull you forward (downwind), it pulls downwind, but your direction of motion is crosswind. This craft is set up to pull pretty much straight downwind. This means you can’t tack (sail upwind) and the kite will fall out of the sky.
Also, in order to generate power in the kite, you need to be able to fly a sine wave pattern. Since the handlebars are connected directly to the power lines (90% of the kites pull) as well as the steering lines, you would not be able to control the kite at all.
I would so buy this if i had money and i lived on the beach!
This is awsome!
Most excellent~*
dear Ben if i were u will try this thing, it seems like there’s no way to go up wind but it does and it does it really good ……its not as eficient as a kiteboard but aparently when u get used to it is much easyer,.. i saw some guys testing a promodel which isnt the one in the picture and this shit is really fun. saludos.
it looks cool.
This looks like a really fun, sexy concept, sort of like a wind powered jet ski. I’d love to get my hands on one to experiment with.
I disagree with Ben’s assessment of “fatal design flaws,” however I do agree that this design (as shown) could use some significant refinement before it is ready for recreational applications.
The steering of the craft isn’t done with the handlebars, rather by leaning the craft against the foil, much like a kite boarder engages the edge of the board. The handlebars appear that they would function more like a control bar (as used for most kite sports.) It is even possible that those handlebars could be rigged to allow sheeting of the kite (which is essential to safely manage the power of a large traction kite.)
I haven’t experimented with kites directly connected to a vehicle but I assume there are some tricky control issues to resolve. From my casual research, it appears that only a few people have successfully designed, built and flown kite powered hydrofoils. I commend everyone with the skills, the resources and the perseverance to develop their ideas into reality.
this model is very niche
i think it is very expensive ?
These craft is really awesome, I wonder how much would it cost? this is really one good innovation actually.