A Quonset-based startup is poised to revolutionize global ocean travel with first-of-its-kind technology. Meet the company behind the Seaglider cruising Narragansett Bay. By LAUREN CLEM
A Quonset-based startup is poised to revolutionize global ocean travel with first-of-its-kind technology. Meet the company behind the Seaglider cruising Narragansett Bay. By LAUREN CLEM
PORTRAITS BY JAMES JONES
T
HE SKIES ARE OVERCAST IN
Quonset, and the world’ s first electric Seaglider is preparing for its morning run on Narragansett Bay.
Tethered to a dock at the Port of Davisville in North Kingstown, the Seaglider— part boat, part plane, and powered by electric motors— bobs patiently in the water as workers load testing gear inside its carbon-fiber hull. With a sixty-five-foot wingspan, it towers over the smaller boats surrounding it like an oversized bird of prey anxious to take flight. Inside the cockpit, two men suited up in helmets and lifejackets glance over the controls. One of them looks up and waves through the windshield, flashing an eager smile.
At an unheard signal, a yellow-and-black-striped support boat— named Seabee for the naval battalion that originated in Quonset— tows the Seaglider away from the dock. Two fishermen look on as the sleek white craft glides into the bay. With twelve propellers dotted evenly across its wings, it looks better suited for a launchpad than surrounded by seagulls in the early morning chop. As the craft angles into position in front of the Jamestown Bridge, the blue lettering on its side becomes visible against the gray morning sky: REGENT.
The motors start, sending a dull drone across the water. As the craft gathers speed, two support boats flank out behind like geese. The deep V hull cuts through the surf, waves breaking on either side, until suddenly, the Seaglider rises a few feet above the water. Two narrow foils extend beneath the surface, supporting the 15,000-pound craft as it glides across the bay, barely leaving a wake.
A short distance away on a boat, a woman watches it closely. A smile grows beneath her tinted sunglasses as she follows its journey, chin resting on her hand. The Seaglider passes the boat before slowing and sinking back beneath the waves. As it veers around for another run, she pulls herself away from the sight, beaming.
“ That was amazing. I’ ve been waiting so long to see that. It’ s almost surreal,” she says.
The woman is Lindsey Thalheimer, a biomedical engineer and Rhode Island transplant who moved to the state in 2022. Her husband, Billy Thalheimer, is behind the con-
ALL SEAGLIDER PHOTOGRAPHY: © AMORY ROSS / REGENT.
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