Strange-looking high-tech boat unveiled in the waters of San Francisco Bay

A new catamaran-style watercraft, the Proteus, is attracting the interest and money of Silicon Valley investors.

The San Jose Mercury News says inventor Ugo Conti has come up with a new class of boat which he calls "Wave Adaptive Modular Vessels."

The catamaran-like vessel has inflatable hulls, sits only about a foot deep in the water, is powered by two 355-horsepower diesel engines and has a range of up to 5,000 miles.

Plus, the cool quotient is off the charts, in a geeky, sci-fi sort of way. Which may be one of the reasons it attracted three Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as investors -- Network Appliances co-founder Dave Hitz, Ezio Valdevit, a fellow at Brocade Communications and Pierluigi Zappacosta, co-founder of Logitech.

Its relatively light weight, its range and its mobility suggest that potential uses could include search and rescue, ocean research and military applications.

For example, because it floats high in the water, scientists could use it to glide into environmentally sensitive shallows and lagoons. But its ocean-crossing capabilities, Conti said, mean it also could be used in long-range rescue or military operations. He wouldn't say what the top speed of the boat might be, although the patent Conti holds says it can travel 60 knots, which is about 70 mph.

Jon, the article was correct, this does look like something straight out of a Bond movie.

I think the companies that donated materials for building this is ... interesting:

"material was donated to the project by sponsors such as Cummins Diesel (engines), Hewlett-Packard (computers), Autodesk (design software) and Wing Inflatables (hulls)"

well known partners or is the start of something business beautiful in the bay?