Marine cinematographer Robert Baldwin recently finished jetting beneath the waters off the Florida Keys with a Pegasus Thruster strapped to his scuba tank when he made this prediction about the device.
''It's going to revolutionize diving in so many ways, but cinematography for sure,'' said Baldwin, who used the thruster -- a device that propels divers through the water -- while filming a segment for National Geographic Television.
But if the three-man team behind Pegasus Thruster hopes to launch that revolution, they still need to go into full-scale production. And for that, they need to raise an additional $800,000.
Weighing about nine pounds, the Pegasus is a torpedo-like engine that can be strapped to a scuba tank or a snorkeler's back, sending the diver through the water at speeds of up to 3 miles an hour.
The patented device is lighter than competing models, has batteries that can be changed underwater and, perhaps most importantly, is virtually hands-free. Most existing models require divers to hang on and be dragged through the water.
When the three men behind the Pegasus Thruster -- Dean Vitale, Steve Williams and Howard Sorkin -- took second prize in The Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge last year, they thought they were just months away from production.
But nine months later, they say they're still shy of raising the $1 million they need to begin rolling out the Pegasus Thruster commercially.
SOLID STEPS FORWARD
Still, these last months have not been wasted, said Vitale.
The product has been reengineered to be a few inches smaller and 30 percent more powerful, and their corporate structure has been reformulated to be ''bullet-proof,'' said Vitale.
After last year's competition, the three partners sat down with lawyers at Holland & Knight to make sure they were ready to take on investors, and they hammered out details -- from defining ownership to transfering patents from individuals to the company.
What they discovered in the process is that the company is actually worth more than they originally thought, said Vitale.
''The foundation of our company is rock solid. If an investors wants to do due diligence, we are flawless. All our ducks are in a row,'' he said. ``And now we have all the paperwork to prove it.''
If all goes as planned, the company will produce its first batch of thrusters, about 250, during the second half of this year. The team is confident enough that Vitale recently quit his job to focus on the project full time.
Retailing at between $2,650 to $3,000 per unit, Pegasus will initially focus on markets where the thruster has already found fans: rescue divers, disabled diving groups and the film crowd.
HUGE POTENTIAL
The wider market is massive. Studies have suggested there will be more than 11 million snorkelers and 3.4 million scuba divers in the United States alone by 2010. ''It's a staggering number,'' said Vitale. ``And the dive industry is growing and growing.''
Bowers predicted the demand among serious cinematographers and researchers will be strong. After he swam with some marine biologists using the rig, he said they were so taken by being able to keep up with dolphins and sharks that they were reluctant to give the thrusters back.
''I had to wrestle them from their fingers,'' he said. Now the Pegasus Thruster team has to wrestle some cash from investors.
