Amphibious vehicle records and journeys

Around the world in Half-Safe

The only circumnavigation by an amphibious vehicle recognized by Guinness World Records was made by Australian Ben Carlin in Half-Safe, a modified Ford GPA amphibious jeep ^[1]. Carlin bought the jeep in the United States in late 1946 and added a bow, an enclosed cabin and a belly fuel tank ^[2]. After two failed starts, he and his wife Elinore left Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 19 July 1950 and reached Flores in the Azores 32 days later ^[2]. They continued by way of Madeira, the Canary Islands and the coast of Africa, and the Atlantic stage ended when they crossed the English Channel on 24 August 1951 ^[1][2].

Carlin then drove across Europe and Asia and crossed the Pacific by way of Japan and the Aleutian Islands to Alaska, with American Boye Lafayette De Mente as his companion on the Pacific stage ^[1][2]. He arrived back in Montreal on 8 May 1958, having covered 62,765 km (39,000 miles) by land and 15,450 km (9,600 miles) by sea and river, according to Guinness ^[1]. Carlin died on 7 March 1981 ^[1].

English Channel crossings

Many amphibious record attempts have used the crossing from Dover to the French coast near Calais, a distance New Atlas gives as about 22 miles (36 km) ^[7]. In September 1965 two Amphicars crossed from Dover to Calais on their way to the Frankfurt Motor Show ^[3][4]. The crossing took about seven hours in rising winds; about halfway across, a blocked bilge pump let one car's engine flood, and the other car towed it the rest of the way ^[3][4].

On 14 June 2004 Richard Branson drove a Gibbs Aquada from Dover to Calais in 1 hour 40 minutes 6 seconds, a record for an amphibious car; Hagerty reports that the previous best was about six hours ^[5]. In June 2005 a crew in a Sealegs, a rigid inflatable boat with retractable wheels, crossed in 43 minutes 12 seconds ^[5][7]. New Atlas treated this as the amphibious vehicle record, but Hagerty reports that Guinness did not accept it as official ^[5][7].

On 26 July 2006 Swiss designer Frank Rinderknecht crossed from Dover to Sangatte in his Rinspeed Splash, a hydrofoil car, in 3 hours 14 minutes after a large wave damaged the vehicle early in the run; he claimed a Guinness entry for a hydrofoil amphibian ^[7]. The Guinness record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel by amphibious vehicle is 1 hour 14 minutes 20 seconds, set by Hans Georg Näder of Germany and Henry Hawkins of the United Kingdom in a vehicle called the Tonic, from Dover to Calais on 1 July 2008 ^[6].

Speed and other records

WaterCar's Python set a Guinness World Record as the fastest amphibious vehicle in its day ^[8]. Guinness credits the Swiss firm Rinspeed with the first submarine car, the sQuba, an open car based on the Lotus Elise that was shown at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2008 and could travel underwater at a depth of 10 m (33 ft) ^[9].

Guinness also records the longest journey by amphibious cycle. Ebrahim Hemmatnia pedaled a self-built "Boat Bike" 2,371 km (1,473 miles) across the Atlantic Ocean from Dakar, Senegal, between 22 November 2014 and 29 January 2015 ^[10].

Related entries

• Half-SafeRecords, people and culture · 1950 to 1958
• Ford GPA "Seep"Military amphibians · 1942 to 1943
• Amphicar 770Amphibious cars · 1961 to 1968
• Gibbs AquadaAmphibious cars · 2003 to 2004
• SealegsAmphibious boats · 2004 to present
• Top Gear amphibious car challengesRecords, people and culture · 2006 to 2007
• WaterCarAmphibious boats · 1999 to today