Design James Bond's Boat - Fiction Writer Needs Help

My name is Michael Sol Pollens, I style myself The Detective In The Mirror, and after twenty-five years a private investigator, I've had some success with my fiction, having had a literary press publish my collection Four More Tales Of Unrest, and, very recently, a national press pick up my first novel The Murders Of Anonymity for distribution as an Ebook and print on demand paperback through Amazon and other nationwide outlets, with release due sometime late this or early next year.

I need help designing my version of James Bond's extraordinary Cabo Rico 44 - I've been told by those who know that, if you were willing to spend some tens of millions, you could design the thing to look exactly like the unmodified sailing yacht, but capable of literally changing its hull shape, extruding the necessary pontoons and retracting its keel so that the sailboat could become a very high-speed power boat.

The standard here for a writer is that people expert enough to know would not trash the idea when reading or watching the movie.

The book is titled The Wrong Side Of The Mirror (An Epic Of Empire In Four Parts) Novel I - Empire, and I have every reason to think its going to sell big; which is to say, of course, I'm not paying anything but gratitude and a prominent acknowledgement in the book itself.

My site is www.KurtLarsen.net and my email Larsen@KurtLarsen.net

Thank you all for your notice!

MS

 

As I understand it, this would be YOUR version of this boat, so why not make it a catamaran? I think that would make the transformation not only realistic but actually pretty possible. On a single hull sailboat the keel would create a big issue as it' so damn heavy, but on a cat you would just pull up the daggerboards, drop the mast and go. Just my two and a half cents.

 

Having not seen the movie, to help in the process could you post a few photos(credits of course ) showing origional--half morphing and final transformation of the vessel in question. One big factor here is the ballast-- Not being familiar with the Stock Cab Rico's ballast configuration, if not designed with a high percentage of water ballast, and a retractable keel to some degree, it will have to be custom made so to approach the realm of believeability. I will do some research on the vessel and post my thoughts.
P.S. One of my hobbies at the movies is to detect errors-- The first "Jurassic Park" still my favourite for minimum errors and best special effects.--- Geo

A yacht is not defined by the vessel but by the care and love of her owner

 

Wow, thanks for the quick answers.

Gagepants - unfortunately, for aesthetic reasons, the boat must be the Cambria - it's a matter of image.

And, keep in mind that money is no object - the boat has been customized by MI6, the British Foreign Intelligence service, and if it costs tens of millions they don't care.

Viking - there is no movie, the book has not been sold yet, I'm just getting the campaign to acquire a publisher or agent right now....

Thank you again!

MS

 

I did a Google search on the craft in question and found nothing useful.

You need to post some images so that people have a better understanding of what you are trying to do here.

 

Was a little confused as i thought it was a particular make of boat associated with the on going adventures of a particular movie. Ok the process deals with a monohull vessel -- described in written form--morphing into a power vessel-- You mentioned a name Cambria-- Is this a make of boat, Example.-- C&C--Morgan, or the name of the boat in your book. If either could you post relavent info or photo that will create a real or brains image of the vessel. From this it will allow technical feedback info that could make the transformation more believeable--( I think that was the drift of your post ?) --Geo.

 

I'm sure I'll get lynched for this:

http://www.macgregor26.com/

 

Cambria 44 from their website.

 

I think you need an adjustable flywheel inside the retractable keel (may not even need a keel!). I've no idea why, but I think it should have it (maybe for it's righting capabilities along with less static weight).

Also, you should make good use of gyrometers... money is no object, right?

Since it is a luxury yacht, you will want the associated NVH (noise, vibration, harmonics) devices to keep things elegant.

But I'm not an engineer, nor am I a naval architect...

 

There isn't much room in a 44' to hide mechanical bits. You need to work backwards. Design the highspeed vessel first, then convert it into a sailboat. I think bond would be more a Volvo 70 kind of guy anyway.

How about a slow powerboat that converts into a really fast sailboat.

Krogen morphs to L'Hydroptere?

 

Err excuse me Im British and I already pay too much tax no matter what MI6 may say so lets keep the costs down a bit thank you.

I happen to know James Bond,--I met him in a the pub.

 

The point here is Michael, "you are writing a novel" not "here is how to design a boat that changes."

So, one in a million people notice that your transformation from a sail boat to a speed boat is impossible, you've made a million sales.

Wait James Bond is British, your in America, make that ten million.

You are a fiction writer, you want to base your fiction on what has already been done.

OK James Bond is British, change the accent and the pronunciation should work, been done before, jolly good show. The preceding sentence should be done in a John Cleese accent.
If you don't know who John Cleese is go to whatever you go to, to give me negative points, and, give me negative points.

No you write novels, I am jealous I want to write movies, don't seem to find the time. Movies seem to lack imagination. Movies = same old same old.
Now they are going into computer graphics because they can't think up any new story line.

I've had a few reds, a few whites and some beers, it's time for bed. Good night.

 

ROTFL

I thought of the same thing and was reading through the responses to see if anyone else went there.

To the original poster (MichaelPollens):

This concept seems stale and has been done before. Just because there is conceptual continuity to previous renditions of the same fictional heritage does not make it worth repeating. The true spirit of Bond (IMHO) is the shock of unique and unexpected transformation due to Q Branch magic.

The world is a different place than it was during Fleming's time, and values have changed as well. The things that get people excited are different.

You have the opportunity to bring a new audience a new and unpredictable exhibit of Q Branch magic, which may enable you to take advantage of new and fresh public fascinations from a technology, sustainable energy and and visually stunning perspective.

Converting an apparently rusty, dead slow smoking trawler into a carbon fiber Hydroptere sailing hydrofoil speaks volumes to a contemporary audience. Old school become new school, while sending the message that the future has arrived. Achieving exciting wind powered sailing hydrofoil escape leaving powerboats behind sends a real message.

Then again, what do I know!

--
CutOnce

(measure twice)

 

This has a familiar ring to me, having helped design a Jurassic Park spin-off. OK, we’re closing in on a specification here. Some more answers required though -

Will the boat be seen out of the water or can we do whatever we like below the waterline?

Is the transition from sailboat to high-speed power boat a one-way event or must it be reversible? If it’s just an emergency escape device and the original boat is never to be seen again, it gets simpler.

I assume more practical, lower-tech options such as a simple speedboat launched off the bow are out for artistic reasons, as not fitting the James Bond image. I also assume an actual boat that does all this will not be actually built or operated for cost and safety reasons; speciality craft will be used where required to represent the craft before and after transition. Are these fair assumptions?

p.s. its sounds like the Disco Volante in Thunderball.

 

Thank you all, and..

I'm lookng for someone who wants to think this through and make it work, or work well enough - so if you're seriously interested in getting the credit, please email me, Larsen@KurtLarsen.net. There is also a synopsis of the work on the site.

Some specific answers, but first a link:
http://www.iboats.com/Cabo_Rico_Yachts_cambria_40/nb/moi58480

and I think I attached the photo to this.

And, in reverse order:

Kayaker, yes, I hadn't thought of the Disco Volante, but I like that it crossed your mind.

And no, the boat first has to make a fifty knot crossing from Liverpool to New York, and gets used again and again, so it has to be able to be able to go back and forth; and no, the speedboat launch won't work, dramatically.

Rotfl - well, anything, in my mind, can be stale, and anything new, in the right setting; which is to say, the entirety of the novel is so brilliantly ingenious (modest, ain't I?) that this tired concept will glitter anew.

Poida: as a PI who wrote a hard-boiled novel, I may be loony, but I do believe the details have to be right; and so this research and this discussion.

Frosty, that's actually one of the novel's overarching points, the monies wasted on all these spy games.

Phil: I appreciate that, and I'd be willing to change the yacht to something else that looks very similar, if a bit longer; and it does have to appear to the naked eye that it's only the off-the-shelf model; but I suppose nothing will keep sonar and more advanced imaging technologies from realizing its something very different, and I can work around that dramatically - it has to pass to the civilian's eyes, the spy services will know it for Rochefort's (my Bond character) own.

The prose image of the Cambria is reminiscent and allusive of other boats from other romantic (not romance) novels, including the original Dracula.

Village - now you're thinking! I was wondering, could the keel be filled with a heavy liquid, which is pumped to elsewhere in the boat, sort of a fluid ballast? Couldn't the customization include making it into a thinly spaced, double hulled boat? And if the ballast fluid could also be fuel for extra range, how then? And I've been looking at, you know, 3500 Mercedes diesels slapped into what should be the stern cabin, but I know nothing of yacths, really.

Anyway, thank you all for your time, and, like I said, if someone wants to work it seriously and take the credit, I will say I've sold everything I've written since finding I'd learned how, finally, some six years ago.

Thank you all again.

Michael Sol