$15 Million Yacht Can Be Controlled By An iPad

With her curved 'wings,' long pointed nose, and gleaming underbelly proppedhigh above the waves, this space-age yacht might be better suited to the sky than the sea. Just a few square meters ofthe futuristic vessel -- valued at $15 million -- actually touch the surface ofthe water, allowing it to skimacross the waves with ease. The innovative design, along with high-tech features such as an iPad-controller, helped glossy "Adastra" win three prizes at last week's prestigious ShowBoats Design Awards in Monaco, including Best Naval Architecture. The yachting world is clearlyimpressed. The honor follows a prize for the Most Innovative Design at the 2013 World Superyacht Awards earlier this year. So could this alien shape -- resembling something between a spaceship and the Concorde supersonic plane -- be the future of superyacht design? "The superyacht industry ispretty traditional," designer John Shuttleworth, told CNN."But the establishment has given a 'yes' to this idea which is a huge step forward." "Inevitably, there has to be a trend for reducing fuel consumption -- and I think superyachts will have to look something like this in the future. Initially I don't think economics will drive it -- these are wealthy owners and cost isn't an issue. Instead, it will be froman ethical, environmental point of view." Billionaire's toys Billionaire shipping magnate Anton Marden is believed to be the proud owner of the plush 42.5-meter vessel, which took more than five years to design and build. The Hong Kong-based moguland wife Elaine will be able to remotely control their luxury yacht from up to 50 meters away, simply by sweeping their hand over an iPad. If you want to appeal to the mega rich, such flashy gadgets -- and room to house them -- are now an essential part of superyachtarchitecture. "We have recently seen an increase in new and excitingsuperyacht toys on the market and clients are increasingly looking for more space to house these," said co-exterior designer Orion Shuttleworth. "Our new designs incorporate lots of space to accommodate jet skis, sailing boats, kayaks, paddle boards and other toys." Speed machine With just 20% of the enormous 52-ton boat submerged in water, Adastra is able to glide along the waves without thesame drag as traditional superyachts, hitting up to 43 kilometers per hour. It also means the vessel, made from a super-light glass and carbon material, consumes a lot less fuel -- around 14% of a conventional superyacht thesame size. "Adastra's longer, slender main hull has extremely low drag, which is why she is sofuel efficient," explained Orion. "The smooth, seamless, unbroken surfaces also helpto reduce weight," he said of the boat, which can travelup to 6,400 kilometers -- the same distance from London to New York -- without refueling. In fact, the three-pronged design -- featuring a slim hull and two 'wings' -- is similar to the world's fastestsailboat Hydroptere, which broke the speed record in 2009 at 95 kilometers per hour. Source CNN Mobile.