While teams try to build a car that can go as fast as the speed of sound, other researchers are trying to break a more modest record – can a boat powered by human effort go faster than 20mph? On a ...

Back in the early 90s, MIT's Prof. Mark Drela created a motor-less hydrofoil known as the Decavitator. Using nothing but his own leg power to turn the craft's 10-foot (3-m) air propeller, he got it up ...

The submerged propeller support in the Flying Fish II provided mechanical complexity and increased drag. The Decavitator shown in the photograph and diagram overcomes these problems by using a 3 m air ...

The use of a bicycle power train in conjunction with a large air propeller also became the favored mode of power transfer in the record setting Decavitator hydrofoils. The photograph and diagram show ...