The 35-year-old Briton has built the world's first high-speed seaplane boat, which can be bought quite inexpensively. The Alpha Centauri is powered by a 1000-horsepower race car engine, and the ship looks like Batman's transport.
For five years Chris Phillips worked in his father's garage. He designed and built the motor boat that he dreamed of all his life. He even had to sell his Maserati to complete the project. Chris named the prototype motorboat Alpha Centauri after one of the brightest stars in the sky. As soon as it was presented to the public, investors were immediately found and orders were poured in.
The vessel is made according to a two-hull scheme (catamaran) and resembles a small fighter jet suddenly splashed down and a sports car at the same time.
The Alpha Centauri frame is made of stainless steel for high strength. To obtain a low drag coefficient and maintain stability at any speed, hydrodynamic computer calculations were used when designing the shape of the outer panels.
The creator of Alpha Centauri himself ironically calls the boat "impractical, terribly ineffective and scary." But she looks really amazing. After the boat was painted black, they began to call it nothing more than "something from a Batman movie."
The vessel is powered by a 9.5-liter Chevrolet V8 engine that powers a two-stage Scott water cannon. Thanks to this, the maximum speed on the water develops up to 60 knots (110 km / h). For the customer who is not enough of this, a "special package" is available, which raises the power up to 1000 hp. These engines are also used in NASCAR racing cars.
Alpha Centauri can accommodate up to four people. They enter the boat through the roof that folds up. The driver and passengers have bucket-style leather seats and a Rockford-Fosgate sound system. True, it is not easy to hear it at high speed.
Until now, such high-speed motor boats of this class have been very expensive. Only millionaires and racing teams could afford them. Now Alpha Centauri can be bought directly from Chris's Alpha Centauri Boats for £ 120,000.
Modern motor boats and boats are sometimes very impressive. This can also be said about Mercedes-Benz Marauder AMG with a capacity of 3100 hp, which can easily "make" any supercar.