James Bond Style Yellow Submarine Unveiled August 25, 2010 by lukesheppard

A group of engineers go where no man has gone before and unveil a pedal-boat submarine on the French Riviera, the first of it’s kind.

The submarine, nicknamed ‘the Scubster’ is a 3.5m long, one person yellow submarine which echoes a similar yellow submarine seen in the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me.

The Scubster is powered by its twin propellers which are connected to a pedal belt. If the pilots in good shape then this mini-sub can reach speeds of 5mph and up to depths of 20ft.

Inventor Stephane Rousson has said ‘I’ve been up in the air pedalling, underwater pedalling with my bike and now underwater with a one-man submarine.’

The mini-sub, entirely controlled by hand or pedal was underwater for an hour off the Cote d’Azur in the Mediterranean sea this week. Hermetically sealed, the pilot breathes using scuba apparatus.

Unsure as to whether or not the Scubster will catch on and become a commercial success, Rousson believes it could grab the attention of high-end yacht owners with ‘pocket submarines’.

The 40-year old from Nice added: ‘And if it doesn’t take off, I’ll race it!’ As he plans to participate in the 2011 International submarine race which takes place in the US.