Jonathan Schwinge may be one of the hottest ultra-luxury designers on the planet. His portfolio spans the creative spectrum from architecture to furniture design to hydrofoil-driven pyramid-shaped superyachts.
He is perhaps considered one of the most notable designers for the seemingly outlandish concept he drew for the Hydrofoil Small Seaplane Area Vessel (HYSWAS) Tetrahedral Super Yacht in 2010. To simplify the explanation, let’s say that it looks a lot like a flying pyramid over the sea called Tetra.
Technically, a tetrahedron is a pyramid in which all four sides of the shape, including the base, are triangular, similar to the tetra design. If you take anything from this article, it’s that all tetrahedra are pyramids, but not all pyramids are tetrahedrons… and perhaps neither is an ideal shape for a flying yacht.
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It’s been 14 years since London-based Schwinge introduced its unique designs to the world and caused a stir. And not just in the marine world, but in the imaginations of everyone who saw conceptual art created by the now-defunct Eye Level Creative in 2016 of the strange-looking ship Schwinge was trying to build.
Is it an Imperial Star Destroyer? A Goa’uld pyramid ship?
No, it’s definitely Tet. The ship, which will be tetrahedral, is designed to carry six Tom Cruise clone passengers, as well as three Victoria clones and one Julia crew member. For those who haven’t seen the 2013 blockbuster movie Oblivion, that’s six passengers and four crew members.
The design of the Tetrahedron (Tetra for short) was to have an underwater trimaran hull below the living quarters, and a single “torpedo” hull with side-mounted hydrofoils below, and a speed of 15 knots (17 knots). The entire ship can be lifted above the waterline when sailing. (27km/h) or more. Expected top speed is 38 knots (44 mph, 71 km/h). It’s pretty fast.
Jonathan Schwinge
That’s impressive considering the carbon fiber and stainless steel superyacht is 71 feet (21.6 meters) long and weighs 82.7 tons (75 tons). The design is also impressive, with a range of 3,000 nautical miles. For a pedant like me, this translates to 3,452.33834 regular miles, or 5,555.99999 km numerically.
You could happily sail from Monaco on the Cote d’Azur to the beautiful Caribbean island of St. John’s in Antigua, but still have some gas left in the tank. It’s not that millionaire types often sail to far-flung destinations on superyachts. . Surprisingly, yachts for the ultra-wealthy are often loaded onto much larger ships and transported to their next destination to await the arrival of their owners.
Jonathan Schwinge
The HYSWAS foiling system includes aviation-based technology with a “fly-by-light” autopilot system to maintain vessel stability during foiling. It automatically controls pitch and heave to counter the rolling forces of ever-changing sea levels.
Fly-by-light control systems are very similar to fly-by-wire. It uses light via fiber optics rather than electrical signals sent from the input to the controller and back via copper wire. Fly-by-light systems are significantly lighter than copper systems. It is mainly used in advanced aviation fields such as fighter aircraft. The U.S. Air Force pioneered fly-by-light with DIGITAC (Digital Tactical Aircraft Control) in the 1990s. These are all very cutting-edge technologies and operate much faster than standard fly-by-wire technology.
In rough seas, a few milliseconds can mean the difference between a flying pyramid and an upside-down, sinking pyramid. Tom Cruise is no more.
At low speeds, the Tetra navigates in the traditional manner with its three bat-like hulls and foils partially retracted underneath. This extra depth does not bode well for sailing in a typical marina. However, so is the triangular shape of the tetra. Good luck finding a slip…or even a captain trying to maneuver in shallow water.
Jonathan Schwinge
Schwinge believes that high-speed foils are the key to smooth movement and efficiency, even in rough open seas.
Sometime in 2016, Schwinge found a project manager who seemed willing to translate his vision into a physical product. Marcel Müller of Inmainco Visionary Marine Management, a well-known name in the world of luxury yachts and racing vessels for its carbon fiber technology, agreed to take on the project. Since then, the work has not been completed, there have been no prototypes, there has been no talk about tetrahedra, and we have been talking exclusively about crickets.
I’m really disappointed. I would love to see it in person.
According to Schwinge’s website (which appears to have been last updated in 2022), the design’s propulsion system is in the concept stage in collaboration with Maritime Applied Physics Corporation in Baltimore, Maryland. We don’t know exactly what that means, but Mapcorp has specialized in HYSWAS technology, advanced naval vessels and engineering since 1986, and has collaborated extensively with the Department of Defense (US Department of Defense) on vehicle design. Ta. , submarine and “ocean engineering” projects.
So who knows? Maybe someday that will happen. Or the technicalities of flying a pyramid across the ocean when you could easily pick up a well-used, very modest, very careful megayacht with 105,000 gallons (397,468 liters) and a range of 8,000 nautical miles. Overcoming the problem may not be worth the cost. ) Can you get a cool $150 million in fuel while maintaining your Superville image?
Jonathan Schwinge
Source: Schwinge
