Thrill Ride: Seabreacher

Watercraft produces plenty of thrills, but they prove even more exciting when they are produced in California. Case in point: the awesome offerings from Innespace Productions. For more than 10 years, this company – founded by New Zealand boat builder Ron Innes and certified machinist Dan Piazza – has been building exciting, safe and reliable submersible watercraft for aquatic adventurers.

So what exactly does an Innespace Productions watercraft do? Let’s start with diving, jumping, rolling, porpoising and other amazing aquatic tricks, all within the safety and comfort of a dry, sealed cockpit. Designed for both recreational and racing use, their models enjoy superior performance on a variety of waterways and in many different climates.

They started with the original Dolphin design, but have since introduced three other categories of watercraft: the Seabreacher J, X and Y. Our favorite is the Seabreacher X. This category incorporates the dolphin inspired design of the Seabreacher J, but offers an aggressive shark style body and upgraded interior treatments. But where the X really steps up the game is in performance, boasting a 260 horsepower supercharged engine, propelling the vessel to a top speed of 50 mph on the surface and 25mph below.

Take the “X-Terminator.” This model was specially constructed for a VIP in the United Arab Emirates. Sporting an airbrushed great white paint motif with portions of the flesh ripped off on the starboard side to reveal robotic shark body underneath, this creature’s design does little to hide the bite delivered on water.

Though it may seem like pure aesthetics, there’s a practical reason behind the shark skin. The higher output engine requires more air intake than the main snorkel (mounted in the vessel’s dorsal fin) can provide, so Innespace added an additional snorkel in the shark’s tail. The drag-boat style wrap-around canopy was primarily designed to reduce heat build up in the cockpit. This, combined with the gaping jaws, gives the whole vessel a far more menacing presence.

The boats can sustain high-speed dives and then breach the surface, launching the entire vessel clear out of the water. The fully vectored thrust system mimics the tail articulation of real aquatic animals like sharks and dolphins.

Some other high tech features that are incorporated into the two-seat vessels: a snorkel mounted video camera transmits live video to LCD screens for the pilot and passenger during dives, GPS navigation and on board stereo with iPod docking.

Check out all the Seabreacher models at seabreacher.com.