# This has nothing to do with EVs...



## Hollie Maea (Dec 9, 2009)

That's pretty cool, but considering that the article is from 2009 doesn't sound like it went anywhere.

I would love to make a carbon fiber electric hydrofoil. But with a lot more than 20 hp.


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

Considering the world has been in recession since the communists took power here and wrecked our economy it isn't surprising we don't see them in stores. However, the idea is great - and I think part of the point is that to get good performance they only needed 20hp.

Of course, as batteries continue to improve I'm sure we'll see something with even more power. After all, there's no such thing as too much hp, right?


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## Hollie Maea (Dec 9, 2009)

PhantomPholly said:


> Considering the world has been in recession since the communists took power here and wrecked our economy it isn't surprising we don't see them in stores. However, the idea is great - and I think part of the point is that to get good performance they only needed 20hp.
> 
> Of course, as batteries continue to improve I'm sure we'll see something with even more power. After all, there's no such thing as too much hp, right?


Is there no topic for which your answer isn't an obnoxious political statement?


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## Bugrug (Jun 7, 2016)

I only see this as a very niche market anyway. You go camping in rugged terrain where you want to go "4 wheeling" with your motorbike, but there is a body of water(s) cutting through the terrain. 

Other than that, it's good for a novelty toy.


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## samwichse (Jan 28, 2012)

Hollie Maea said:


> Is there no topic for which your answer isn't an obnoxious political statement?


The answer is an emphatic "NO."

I would love to see one of their prototypes hitting a chunk of driftwood or other floating garbage. Look at the angle of the front foil pylon. Face dive it is.


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

Hollie Maea said:


> Is there no topic for which your answer isn't an obnoxious political statement?


Obnoxious how? Because it is true, or because you wish it weren't true?


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

samwichse said:


> The answer is an emphatic "NO."


Nonsense. Politics has nothing whatsoever to do with actual science. However, this is motorsports - yet another aspect of our daily lives increasingly monitored and manipulated by the political morons.



> I would love to see one of their prototypes hitting a chunk of driftwood or other floating garbage. Look at the angle of the front foil pylon. Face dive it is.


Yes, that would make for some good YouTube footage.

However, most bodies of water with lots of power sports are pretty well patrolled for serious obstacles to navigation. And, I suspect the foil would be pretty strong. Taken together, I suspect this toy would be as safe as any traveling at similar speeds.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

PhantomPholly said:


> Obnoxious how? Because it is true, or because you wish it weren't true?


Because it (your comment) is a load of balls!


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

Duncan said:


> Because it (your comment) is a load of balls!



While a poignant remark, it lacks anything resembling cogent thought. Truly Duncan, it is representative of your life's work.


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## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

It is a sad state when person is so obsessed that they can’t talk about anything with throwing in a political jab representing their self centered one sided view. As an artist I have always said politics and the economy does not affect my income as I am broke no matter who is in office. I have looked back over the years I seemed to have done better when the economy is on a down swing. I guess it is because my clientele are collectors and hobbyists. So when the economy is supposed to be down everyone stays home and attends to there hobby and adds to their collection by buying from me. If the economy is up then everyone spends their money on jet skies and goes to the lake. So if the economy goes in the tank I should be able to make enough money to buy one of those foil jet skies and have the lake to myself because all the other people will be home playing with there hobbies.


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

dragonstate said:


> It is a sad state when person is so obsessed that they can’t talk about anything with throwing in a political jab representing their self centered one sided view.


It is a sad state when normal people cannot tell the difference between a straightforward observation and a political statement. Being offended by simple observations simply because you wish they weren't true is utterly self centered, and is a passive aggressive attempt to compel others to conform to your one sided view. The only remotely "political" word in the post you refer to is "communist" - get over it, it was simply a convenient and accurate description of the agenda of those in office.

Our economy is what it is, and the reasons are completely understood by anyone willing to take the time to actually study history. In the past 7 years 22% of our economy moved from the private sector to the government sector, our government debt has doubled; prices are going up; real wages and quality are going down; fewer jobs are full time; and for the first time in over 50 years there has been a massive downturn in the number of entry level jobs available for young people which would otherwise allow them to gain workforce experience. This latter should terrify you if you have any sense at all - the only reason the Labor Participation Rate doesn't look any WORSE than it does is because so many more old people today are unable to retire - and so they hold onto their jobs, shutting out the young ones. That means that we have a whole generation of young people barred even from entering the work force and developing marketable skills. 

These are not "political" statements, they are simply facts. Pointing out what is both true and obvious is not a political statement. If facts make you "uncomfortable" now and make you cry for your "safe space," just imagine how you're going to feel in a few more years as the trend gets worse?


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## PStechPaul (May 1, 2012)

The "fact" is that the US economy was nearly destroyed by the capitalistic and greedy 1% who had already sucked most of the wealth out of the middle and working class, and endeavored to squeeze even more blood out of that shriveled turnip. Many of them were able to hold on to their profits and the financial institutions were bailed out by the 99% who had also suffered much damage. 

If it were not for the "communists" who took the reins in 2008, along with a slim majority in congress, the economy would have sputtered into an irrecoverable tailspin. There was then, and still remains, no hope to regain the illusory economic boom of 2006, as much of it depended on unrealistic overvaluation of speculative financial instruments, and over-cooked books. 

It is clearly obvious to anyone whose mind has not been turned to mush by blind conservatism (as is evident by Phantom's rants), that the well-established global economy cannot support the sort of entitlement and exceptionalism that ruled the American dream during the ages of stock market day-trading and technological bubbles of 1980-2000 or so. Manufacturing jobs that were once the mainstay of US prosperity are now firmly transplanted elsewhere, and the global economy will stabilize at some point of relative equity. The era of comfy $40/hour union jobs in the US is long gone, and we have only a limited, and shrinking, number of retail and service jobs that may never approach even the barely adequate $15/hour level. 

My (now rabidly conservative) friend said his business of high-tech recreational diving accessories shriveled to nearly zero after the 2008 crash. Of course, he blames Obama and "liberals" and other strawmen, but actually he just rode the last big wave into the rocky shore. We can all achieve a comfortable and enjoyable lifestyle, but it will need to be based much less on rampant materialistic consumerism, conspicuous consumption, and other false measures of personal wealth.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi Paul

I agree with your rant about what went wrong in the USA

And I sort of agree that rampant materialism is finished 
BUT
I am much less pessimistic about the future

European countries and places like NZ have weathered the economic storm a lot better than the USA
Overall as countries not as well - but the people have done a lot better

We can still have materialism (just not rampant) and well paid jobs 
All we have to do is "persuade" the 0.01% to disgorge their ill gotten gains

The changes started by the "Panama Papers" give me some hope for the future


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