By Michael Morrah
An Auckland inventor has put on show what he believes will be the world's fastest recreational submarine.
The only problem is that the machine is yet to go underwater.
But designer Hugh Fulton is confident his 'Q Sub' will appeal to wealthy superyacht owners, and could assist in search and rescue missions.
The Q Sub is named after an inventor - not Q from the James Bond movies, but Uncle Q - that's what Mr Fulton's nephews called him because they couldn't say 'Hugh'.
"It's like a car," he says. "You look out there, you see where you are going and you can see within a metre of the floor."
The viewing windows are part of what sets Mr Fulton's design apart from the dozens of other personal submarines on the market worldwide.
The Q Sub can also plane on the surface at a speed of almost 40km/h and dive to a depth of more than 120m.
"Similar to an aeroplane, we've wanted to make it as intuitive as possible," says Mr Fulton. "That's raising the nose, that's pushing the nose down."
Mr Fulton sold his gas compressor company three years ago to focus on submarines. Among the hundreds of exhibits at Auckland's boat show, Mr Fulton's creation drew the attention of onlookers.
"Pretty impressive," says Tom Usher. "On the Christmas list."
"Quite remarkable," says Barry Cole. "A bit out of my price league of course."
Costing more than $1.2 million, it will be out of the price range of most.
The Q Sub will undergo sea trials in around two months. From there, the designers hope to take it offshore and put it on show to the super rich at boat shows in Monaco, Dubai and Miami.
3 News
source: newshub archive
