Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Just the most important boat of the 20th century.




I'm going to Oahu next week for my sister's wedding, so I thought it might be nice to have a little Hawaiiana on the Thing Tank Blog.  Also, I happened to run across this video.


Today catamarans are commonplace.  The ubiquitous Hobie Cat was, at one time, the most popular sailboat in the world.  But the inventor of the modern sailing catamaran did it for fun.  With a background as a pilot and glider builder, he understood the lightweight construction methods of the time.  But he took his cue from the polynesian designs he saw overseas during world war II.  


Its absolutely incredible to see this masterpiece of engineering out joyriding.  Talk about experience design!


Thanks for showing us the way, Woody.