New British tender brand Alpha Centauri has launched its first prototype, which aims to combine the luxury of a superyacht tender with the speed of a hydroplaning raceboat.
This 8.3 metre speedster was designed to be the Lamborghini Miura of the seas, and can serve as either a superyacht toy or a super-fast tender. Seating capacity is for just four passengers, accessed via a fighter jet-style lifting canopy.
On board luxuries have been kept to a bare minimum, with four leather-lined racing-style bucket seats, a Raymarine navigation system, bright red detailing, and a Rockford-Fosgate speaker system that features twin subwoofers.
The British company behind this super-fast tender is unapologetic about its single-minded design: “It's impractical, woefully inefficient and terrifying,” Alpha Centauri’s Chris Phillips told Boat International. Nonetheless, he predicts that hydroplane technology in superyacht tenders will one day become as commonplace as mid-engine design is in luxury supercars.
Built from a stainless steel frame and lightweight composite superstructure, the Alpha Centauri hydroplane tender has a total displacement of just 1,650kgs.
Power comes from a marinised 750hp 9.5-litre Chevrolet V8 engine, coupled to a two-stage Scott jet-drive. The result is a hair-raising top speed of 60 knots, which makes the Alpha Centauri one of the fastest superyacht tenders in the world.
If, for whatever reason, you want even more power on tap, Alpha Centauri will be offering a super-charged version that will generate in excess of 1,000hp. Other optional extras include air conditioning, heating and a wide range of colourful hull finishes, presumably for those who don’t find the Batman-inspired look of the prototype dramatic enough.