You have a few hundred million to spend, but you hesitate between a plane and a mega-yacht? Never mind, Pierpaolo Lazzarini has the solution.
In recent years, we have seen a whole host of more or less promising prototypes flourish, but always with the same promise: to revolutionize mobility with vehicles of a new kind. The exuberant designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini and his troops push the concept even further; his latest idea, the Air Yacht, is a funny concept that seems inspired by a trimaran, a zeppelin and a Star Wars-style racing module.
Nothing to do with the small single-seater racing cars of the competition, like two offered by Airspeeder. Here, passengers will take place in a central gondola particularly spacious and luxurious 80 meters long and 10 meters wide. This will offer a panoramic view as well as a cabin, a living room, a dining room, a swimming pool and even a helipad.
To stay in place, the Air Yacht relies on two balloons 150 meters long which house a total of 400,000 cubic meters of compressed helium. Fixed on either side of the central piece, they allow this all-carbon fiber machine to float without difficulty. He can then move quietly on the water at about 10 km/h thanks to a game of powerful electric motors powered by huge solar panels. Theoretically, this would allow the machine to benefit from virtually unlimited autonomy, and without the slightest carbon emission.
Flying mega-yacht seeks exuberant billionaire
Moreover, these “floats” are not only used to ensure the maintenance of the machine. They each house five additional bedrooms, bringing the boat’s total capacity to 22 people. (indianolafishingmarina.com) But on reading these technical characteristics, one question immediately arises: why on earth did the engineers decide to use helium floats, which are much more fragile than the hull of a traditional trimaran? The answer is simple: as its name suggests, the Air Yacht is above all an aircraft!
Indeed, its two floats allow it to rise like a balloon. Or rather, like a funny siamese zeppelin. Once in the air, it can travel at a cruising speed of around 110 km/h for more than 48 hours. It is therefore a strange hybrid between a super-yacht and a private airliner which should make its future owners happy… and as much to say it right away, you will probably not be part of it.
Indeed, this Air Yacht is not designed for public transport or tourism; it targets an extremely wealthy audience, looking for something more exciting than a vulgar super-yacht costing tens of millions. The future price of this machine, which is still only a concept, has not yet been revealed, but its parent Pierpaolo Lazzarini already has his idea. “Theoretically, with 550 million euros, there will be enough budget”, says the mad scientist. At that price, even the super-cagnotte of the EuroMillion will no longer suffice. So we’ll just sit back and hope to see this engineering marvel come to fruition one day!
