A revolutionary hybrid 'ship' that soars like a seagull above the water at speeds of up to 100 mph could soon be seen zipping across the English Channel.
The 'wingboat', or Aeroptere as its French designers have called it, is based on the same aerodynamic principle that allows gulls to glide low. A working prototype could be completed as soon as 2009 following the French Government's decision to award almost half a million to Focus 21, a company that is helping to develop the craft. The Aeroptere is expected to be capable of speeds twice that of a conventional ship and substantially more efficient than any form of existing aircraft.
The craft, which uses Wind-In-Ground-Effect (WIGE) technology developed by the Russians during the cold war, will be ideal for short sea crossings on the Channel and to Corsica. A naval architect and a leading figure in the design of the craft, Eric Magre, believes the Aeroptere could clear a path for the emergence of a plethora of low-flying vehicles, all capable of carrying passengers, vehicles and containers of several thousand tonnes across the water.
"This technology is going to be taken up. It is inevitable with fuel costs soaring," Mr Magre, founder of Focus 21, told the Times.
"We are working with courier companies because WIGE transport would enable them to reduce the cost compared to air freight."
Having both been trumpeted as the transportation of the future, WIGE has much in common with the now abandoned hovercraft technology, but much that distinguishes it as well. For instance, it will move at approximately twice the speed of hovercraft and with less power. It also does not nauseate travellers by bouncing on waves in a skirt filled with blasted air, but instead exploits the ground-effect lift that birds use to hover above the water.
The wingboat will build upon the experience of Russian, American and Australian designers. The Russians first pioneered WIGE technology in the 1970s and 1980s in the form of the highly expensive and inefficient 'Ekranoplan' – huge, heavily-armed craft that flew at 300mph at up to 60ft from the surface of the water. The commercial interests of US companies coupled with the growing security concerns of the US administration have resulted in big dollars being invested in the new wingboat project. However it is unlikely that wingboats will be seen on the same scale as the Ekranoplan, as many critics claim that the market does not yet exist for WIGE technology to be used on anything other than small craft.
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