We asked coastal residents what they most look for in transportation, and the answer was clear: low costs, convenience, and comfort.
From Yale Climate
Vehicles like it could connect cities like New York and Boston.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a boat … it’s … what is that?
Thalheimer: “A sea glider is an all-electric, battery-powered flying boat.”
Billy Thalheimer is cofounder and CEO of Regent, a company that’s developing a 12-seat seaglider called the Viceroy.
Regent’s electric seaglider achieved its first series of flights on August 15, 2022 in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, proving its full ‘float, foil, fly’ mission—making it the first craft to take off from a controlled hydrofoil to wing-borne flight.
The seaglider technology demonstrator is a quarter-scale prototype for our 12-passenger seaglider, Viceroy.
The prototype is an unmanned, remotely operated technology demonstrator that was built to prove the transitions for the seaglider’s float, foil, and fly modes of operation.
The REGENT seaglider, a new category of electric vehicle that operates exclusively over the water, is the first-ever vehicle to successfully utilize three modes of maritime operation—floating, foiling and flying—marking a major step forward in maritime transportation.
The successful flight demonstration of the quarter-scale, 18-ft wingspan technology demonstrator was the final step in proving the feasibility of seaglider technology. REGENT is now focusing on developing its full-scale, 65-ft wingspan prototype with human-carrying sea trials expected to begin in 2024.
It looks similar to a plane. But when operated, it starts out floating on its hull, like a boat. It rises up onto a hydrofoil – a winglike structure that lifts it slightly above the water.
Then in open water, it takes off and cruises on a cushion of air near the water’s surface.
Thalheimer: “And that is that cushion of air that birds are flying on when they fly low over the surface of the water.”
Thalheimer: “And that is that cushion of air that birds are flying on when they fly low over the surface of the water.”
He says sea gliders could be a way to travel quickly between coastal cities, like Boston and New York or LA and San Francisco.
And because they’re powered by electricity, which can be provided by clean energy, they have the potential to be much better for the climate than planes or diesel-powered boats.
Float, foil, fly — Watch how seagliders navigate from busy harbors to the open ocean, maneuvering around other vessels and ensuring a smooth, comfortable passenger experience.
Regent has completed an operational prototype of the vehicle.
Thalheimer expects to start commercial production within three years and plans to eventually scale up to larger vessels that could carry 100 people or more.
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