If you dream big, you might as well do it all the way. Assuming you have the world’s most competent and luxurious superyacht explorer, don’t skimp on a regular, run-of-the-mill tender. Those are for peasants.
California-based designer Steve Kozloff is back already at work, just days after revealing the latest entry in the Goliath Series of concepts. That would be the Elegante, a superyacht explorer unlike any other: not only is it sail-assisted, but it features an innovative solid sail and tilting mast system that makes it more practical and efficient. The Goliath Series is a series of projects of (mostly) superyacht explorers outfitted for research and exploration cruises but with incredible, superyacht-worthy amenities.
This time, Kozloff imagines a tender that is equally comfortable in the air as it’s on the water, an eVTOL that works exactly like a tender and a helicopter’s (all-electric) love baby. After all, if you’re sailing the world’s oceans on the world’s most competent and luxurious vessel, you will want all the toys on board to match.
As the world is looking forward to the day when personal, airborne, electric urban mobility solutions become a thing, Kozloff takes the concept of eVTOLs and gives it a spin. Enter the Ship to Shore Air Limo, or SSAL for short, which is basically an eVTOL that can be used as a tender if need be. It’s not made specifically for the latter purpose, but it can work as such, the designer says.
Photo: Steve Kozloff
Since this is a limo meant to ferry guests and cargo to and from shore, to the mothership, it doesn’t have to have a long range. In fact, the designer says 35 minutes of endurance for the aircraft is more than enough for a round trip, since most journeys would take under 5 minutes. A 35-minute endurance would also be in line with current battery technology developments.
“The primary mission of the SSAL is to offer luxurious, spacious, comfortable, and quick transport from ship to shore,” Kozloff says. In the process, it would also offer a unique experience to those onboard, since the “SSAL has excellent visibility for all on board thanks to the stadium seating arrangement.”
With a total length of 30 feet (9 meters) and a height of 9.43 feet (2.9 meters), SSAL would have a gross weight of 4,500 pounds (2,041 kg) and be able to carry five passengers and one pilot, in the configuration with a bench seat in the rear. However, maneuvering it would be relatively easy, so the need for a highly-skilled pilot would be reduced. In other words, it could carry a party of six from the guests onboard the ship, as long as one of them was a certified pilot.
“The design is relatively simple,” Kozloff explains. The SSAL would feature eight fixed rotors of 120 hp each, that would also offer redundancy, and two stub wings, titled at an angle to allow best lift performance even at cruise speed. The estimated rate of climb is of 1,500 feet (457 meters) per minute. Once up in the air, the aircraft would cruise at 90 knots (103 mph / 166 kph) and be able to reach a top speed of 120 knots (138 mph / 222 kph). The overall wingspan would be of 19.25 feet (5.8 meters), with a wing area of 44.3 square feet (4.1 square meters).
Photo: Steve Kozloff
Being an eVTOL would bring many advantages to the table over a traditional helicopter, from the ability to land on all kinds of terrain and take-off with much less inconvenience, to the reduced level of noise and considerably lower running and maintenance costs. Moreover, Kozloff says, because of its shape and the fact that it’s electric, the SSAL could be used “in lieu of traditional surface tenders during rough sea conditions.” Again, this isn’t to say you could hypothetically use it like a tender every time you need to, but that you could if the weather was bad and bringing out the tender from the side garage was not an option.
The designer doesn’t offer a price estimate for this all-electric air limo, but that’s to be expected since we’re talking about a concept still in its early stages. Kozloff’s previous studies in the maritime industry have had little success in terms of finding buyers to actually pay to have them built, and the fact that he turns them into the most outrageous (and thus most expensive) vessels could have something to do with it. This air limo could be the exception – but sadly, humanity is not yet ready for flying cars.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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