Microship

Additional Specs, Equipment and Information:

The Microship needs to find a pilot who is mediagenic, geeky, and insanely adventurous. As part of the deal, I will spend up to a week with the new owner here in my lab, sharing all aspects of the design as well as the infrastructure it represents for an overlay of systems, and I'll also stay available for brainstorming and consultation as the new project develops. The boat sails like a dream (heavy-hitter marine architecture consultants were on the design team), and is the resultant of over a dozen man-years of focused engineering work. This is a powerful substrate for a high-profile expedition, and my test loop around Puget Sound was just a teaser...

She's barely broken in, as they say.

This boat is expensive compared to "beach tris" of this scale, and she's certainly not for everyone. But for the right person, she will represent a huge shortcut in time and money compared to the project that would be required to replicate this range of capabilities:

* Pedal, electric, and sail propulsion

* Amphibian mode including folding crossbeams and retractable hydraulically controlled landing gear

* 480-watt solar integration

* Dual T-handle hydraulic rudder controls

* Delta anchor off stern with 180' webbing and launcher

* All appendages kick-up

* Forward-angled daggerboard at turn of the bilge to allow sleeping on board

* Bulkheaded forward and aft stowage compartments as well as the two amas

* Roller-furling vertically battened 93 sqft sail with all controls at the cockpit (mainsheet, vang, outhaul, and furler)

* Basic power system included

I can help you brainstorm the "business model" of a Microship expedition to see if it might benefit from sponsorship, publishing deals, or other spin-offs (I wrote a book on this subject called "Reaching Escape Velocity", available on Amazon, which may be a useful resource if you're into this sort of thing). Of course, she could instead just become a high-tech nautical toy for one with deep pockets and a yen for engineering. But personally, I would prefer to see the boat achieve her originally intended destiny of an extended public journey, and for the right person there is a good probability of corporate and media support (given the continuity of my work over the past 25 years).

Please don’t forget to look at the EXTERNAL LINKS
section below for extensive information and more links about the Microship project, including archives of status reports, adventure tales, current bloggage, media coverage, sponsor lists, articles about the design, and other resources.

All this information is available at microship.com

The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.