Thursday 30th June 2011

Floating Esprit: The Raft Who Loved Me

Say hello to the Flotus. Does that stand for Flippin' Loads Of Trouble, Unusually a Ship, then?

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When car manufacturers talk of bringing a 'raft' of changes to an existing model, we don't think they've ever meant it literally.

But PHer haining does, because he's created this Esprit-raft-replica thingy, which he's (rather brilliantly we think) dubbed the 'Flotus'.

"I've always liked the Lotus Esprit since the first time I saw it in The Spy Who Loved Me," says Andrew. "Like most people though, the nearest I ever got to one was the Corgi toy version I had as a kid. So recently I decided to build a 'replica' of the James Bond Submarine. Sort of."

What Andrew has actually built is, in his own words, a "raft that vaguely resembles the Bond car so I [he] could enter it in loads of silly raft races this summer".

Apparently it isn't quite finished yet, hence the 'rough around the edges' look, but then Lotus itself hardly has a history of immaculately turned-out cars, so perhaps he's being more true to the brand this way...

If you want to have a more in-depth look, you can check out Andrew's blog at Flotus.co.uk or, for those more fond of real-life, Andrew is - er - driving (is that the right verb?) the Flotus at the Paddle Round The Pier this Sunday, 3rd July in Brighton.

We hope it all goes swimmingly, Andrew...

 

 

[TobesH]

Well done that man! If it survives, enter the Rother Raft Race near Midhurst this August Bank Holiday and take down the fish ladder for a final send off! T

[benim83n]

THIS IS REALLY AWSOME
im intrested to know what its made of
looks like sheets and ply???

[fatboy69]

Only in England would you find somebody as mentally unhinged as this building a Flotus in the rain!!!

Fabulous & i hope he achieves his aim however something tells me he probably will not as it will break as it is after all a 'Lotus'.

It's obviously lightweight as well as are all things Lotus so it should at least float.....

Look forward to seeing, hopefully, the video of his efforts.

[soad]

Good effort!

Rafting video should be quite priceless!

[M666 EVO]

That is radio rental. I love it!

[Howard1650]

love it - but it's a little mad

[Twoshoe]

The world would be a poorer place without people like this. Good luck to him!

[Bushi]

He seems to be raising funds for the RNLI as well, possibly a wise investment for him.

Link to give (could it not go into article?)

http://www.justgiving.com/flotus

[dandarez]

What a CHAP that MAN is!

[ridds]

I'm at a complete loss as to how is floats.

Wood frame, plastic signs as sides, a sheet of plastic to give it shape.

Unless it's filled with expanding foam or something?

Looks great though!

[TVRWannabee]

Hang on, I thought FLOTUS stood for 'First Lady Of The United States.' What are we saying here?

Good luck to the chap anyway.

[fatboy18]

Brilliant

[bobberz]

Luvvit! Follows the "light weight" ethos of Chapman more than Lotus' own 5 year plan!

"Flotus" sounds like something you'd find in the restroom of a Japanese water gardening center!

[oilit]

must be a quiet news day !!

sorry - take that back - see its in aid of a very worthy charity

[Gizmo!]

Bloody brilliant.

Top work that man!

[Fastra]

Are those old for sale signs it's made of..???



Brilliant stuff.

[robm3]

Ah, how does one paddle the 'Flotus'?
It looks like it's completely sealed.

[Dangermouse78]

I recall seeing an article in a classic car mag a couple of years ago about a guy who built an exact replics... it's floatation devices are empty plastic bottles! & it's powered by a 0.5hp outboard... epic in every way

[Emeye]

If it can't go underwater and fire sea to air torpedos, whilst droping depth charges and at the same time making Barbara Bach moist, then it is Sir, quite frankly rubbish.

[FLOTUS]

Dear PH-ers,

Thank you all for your words of encouragement (and confirmation that I am indeed a bit mad!

Huge thanks also to those of you who have sponsored me on my Just Giving page (http://www.justgiving.com/flotus). That's incredibly kind of you.

To answer some of the questions about the construction / floating and paddling ability ...

Construction is a wood frame (1 x 2 inch wood mostly) with plastic, correx signs (like those estate agent "for sale" signs)screwed to the frame to achieve the shape.

That was then covered with plastic "mylar" sheeting to give it the glossy look without the need to paint it.

The windows / windscreen is black, correx sheeting (the sort used to protect floors during the construction of office blocks).

The roof, windows and doors are all removeable (thanks to copious amounts of velcro!) and allow us to get the paddles low enough to touch the water.

Floatation is from a "chassis" of pallets (not in the photos) with 1m inflatable rings strapped to the underneath.

As for the First Lady of The United States (The first FLOTUS to my knowledge) I'm sure Mrs Obama wouldn't mind me calling my raft a "Flotus" Maybe I'll email her to see if she, or her husband Barry, would consider sponsoring me?

I've not done a float test of the raft yet but if you're asking me if we can make this work? In the words of Barry Obama - "yes we can!"

I'll be sure to post videos of the raft race on http://www.flotus.co.uk on Sunday night / Monday morning for your entertainment.

Thanks again,

Andrew
TEAM FLOTUS