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| Dive Another Day |
 James Bond might want to trade up his aqua-car for the Hyper-Sub, combining the speed of a powerboat and the underwater capabilities of a submarine. Bond would be able to make his getaway in the Hyper-Sub at 40 knots on the water and dive as deep as 600 feet.
"The company is marketing the submersible powerboat design for use in a variety of applications including port security, charter tourism and submerged infrastructure maintenance and inspection, as well as military applications," Russ Wade, a spokesman for the company producing the Hyper-Sub, told the Daily Mail.
Bond, and the rest of us, will have to wait, though. The Hyper-Sub, a 31-year dream for inventor Reynolds Marion, is still in the production phase and won't go into production for about two more years.
At 31 feet in length with a 13'6" beam and weighing 26,000 pounds, the Hyper-Sub is the work of Florida-based Marion Hyper-Submersible Powerboat Design. Inventor Marion, 43, who has worked in car repair for most of his life, designed a submarine to enter into a raft race at the age of 11. He lacked the funding and skills to build the design but never let the dream die, founding the Hyper-Submersible Powerboat Design company in 2005 to fulfill his dream.
"Reynold's [Marion] sister bet him $20 that he would never actually build the sub. He has yet to call the bet in, but he plans on collecting from her in a highly public forum," Russ Wade said. "I think she will be happy to give it to him."
Testing has been done on the craft over the last year. The sealed passenger cabin was placed under a vacuum to simulate the equivalent of a 33 foot dive to test for air leaks. Following a series of shallow dives, the craft was redesigned and refit.
"You would be comfortable submerged for about the same length of time you would be comfortable riding in a car," Russ Wade said. "Our dream is to make submarines more common vehicles that are cheaper to operate and available to many more people than they are now."
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