Subwing
Evolution of the SUBWING, told by the inventor, Simon Sivertsen
It all started in the beginning of the summer of 2011, back then I was 18 years old. My brother, father and I were going to attempt a circumnavigation around the globe. We had bought a sailboat in Turkey and started our journey from there.
When sailing through the Greek islands, I was astounded by the clarity of the water, it almost felt like flying when diving, just missing the speed and thrill. The first ideas of an underwater wing, towed behind a boat, started emerging deep in the right hemisphere of my brain.
A piece of driftwood was perfectly suited for a first simple test of the concept. A waterski rope was attached to the plank and pulled by our small RIB. The idea worked and I was able to control the up/downward moment without too much effort. But it was far from perfect and felt somewhat static, like a 2D videogame, it was missing a third dimension.
After sailing for some weeks we arrived in Italy, and a new idea had evolved on paper. A simple, but clever solution which involved two separate fins (or wings which we like call it) connected together with a twistable joint. We went to the local supermarket and hardware store and bought two chopping boards, some gardening hose connector links and some fiberglass. After a lot of mess and with limited access to proper tools, the very first SUBWING was created at sea.
After discovering the incredible dynamic handling one could achieve underwater with this contraption, it was no doubt this was a great idea which possibly could evolve into a whole new watersport if made available for the public.
The dream of navigating the globe was set on hold and we sailed home to Norway.
Since then, many prototypes have been developed, and a lot of testing has been done. Not even the cold winter of Norway could stop us from jumping in the sea to perform essential testing. Even if it meant we had to wrap our head with duct tape, to prevent icy water entering the wetsuit.
