Just as the automobile manufacturers are thinking about the next generation of cleaner, more efficient automobiles so too are the boat makers. This concept design for a future boat is called the Volitan and it comes from a Turkish architectural design company called Designnobis Studio. Made with lightweight materials the Volitan does away with traditional billowy sails in favor of two solar collector columns that gather light from the sun and also utilize wind power. It kind of looks like an X-Wing floating on the water and just like Luke Skywalker’s spaceship from “Star Wars” the Volitan’s solar wings can raise up and down but also go one step better and turn around to better collect the energy and/or wind power. Two small stabilizer wings are affixed to the lower side of the Volitan’s body which help it stay afloat even in storms that blow up to 60 knots. Small rudders in the stabilizers can allow the captain to turn the craft on a dime.

If you’re worried that this sounds like it will be really complicated for a Volitan owner to take care of, don’t be. The positioning of the hard wings and energy collection duties are all handled by the onboard networked Volitan computer system. The makers of the ship claim that all of the vessel’s energy needs for both day and night usage will be adequately filled by the collection of energy from the environment.

We can only imagine how much a Volitan would cost but that doesn’t stop us from wanting one. It’s the closest so far to owning your own X-Wing!

via Born Rich