STRANGE CATAMARAN

Courtesy of Member Gene Evans

These photos are of a new and strange catamaran. Precious little is publicly available about this craft, but here are a few facts:

It was designed by prolific SF Bay Area yacht designer Jim Antrim from Ugo Conti's original concept. It's 100 feet long and 50 feet wide; it's powered by twin diesel engines; the inflatable hulls were built by Arcata's Wing Inflatable's; the craft was assembled in Anacortes, WA (where it was spotted several times during apparent sea trials); and it's capable of crossing oceans with "as much, if not more, stability than a normal catamaran," according to Jim Antrim.

Looking a bit like the bridge of a spacecraft, the mystery vessel's cockpit hangs about 15 feet above the water.

What looks like windshield wipers are in reality four gigantic shock absorbers

The craft has no name or number.

It's all very hush-hush, but a press conference is forthcoming in the next few weeks that will hopefully answer the most pressing question: "What's it for?"

Click on Photos for enlargements