idea of siphoning
electricity from the sun's rays. He first glimpsed a solar cell in a magazine
article about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's space
satellites. Dane has even found inspiration in his biomedical training and practice. He based his design for the hinge-and-pivot mechanism of
the boat's wings, for example, on his observations of the human
shoulder. The idea of solar-paneled
wings hatched when Dane learned the evolutionary theory that insects' wings
evolved from solar collectors. A long time sailor and wind surfer, Dane knew that even a small increase in wind speed can dramatically increase a boat's energy.
a boat creates its own breeze. Proper positioning of the sails can add this so-called "relative wind" to the true wind and boost the sailing speed. Growing weary of the late hours of a country doctor, Dane began to dream of building a sailboat equipped with a solar-powered electric motor
The idea is an old one. Early steamboats operated under a combination of two
power sources -- wind and steam -- but both were seldom operated at the same
time., "but sailboat owners generally don't like the smell, noise or
pollution caused by a fossil fuel engine. They call them 'stink boats.'" A
sailboat with an electric engine, he reasoned, would provide the best of both
worlds. His interest spurred along by watching
the first International Solar and
Advanced Technology Boat Race in 1996, Dane sketched out a design for a wing
that would serve both as solar collector and sail. He built a model of the key
joint mechanism from pipe cleaners and his child's Lego blocks, then showed it
to some boat builders The designers' response was cautiously positive. They made some calculations and said the idea was feasible, With the money from Kendall in hand, Dane quit his medical practice and enlisted a diverse crew of friends
and neighbors. Together,
they built the Marjorie K in only 82 days. Skimming across a man-made lake 300 kilometers southwest of Sydney, the twin-hulled Marjorie K looked like an exotic, overgrown water bug. Each cell generated electricity by adjusting the wings' angle to the sun, the crew gathered more energy for their craft's electric motor.
But these wings weren't just solar collectors. Raised perpendicular to the water, they caught the breeze like a sail, allowing the catamaran to use the combined power of sun and wind to leave competitors behind at the 1997 Second International Solar and Advanced Technology Boat Race in Canberra, Australia's capital. As the boat's lead widened, however, the wind died down and the Marjorie K was forced to rely solely on its solar cells and batteries. The boat's support team was nervous -- it was the first trial under race conditions.
A couple of human, rather than technological, errors earned the Marjorie K an extra lap and cost her first place at the finish line.
But despite these glitches, the 
Marjorie K -- one of more than 40 participants
in the all-solar regatta -- won the $10,000 prize for Most Innovative Vessel (currently
worth about $6,300 US). David Gaul, one of the race's judges, was impressed with
the boat's unusual combination of wind and solar power. "The movable wing
design allows you to do two things simultaneously: take advantage of the wind,
and get the absolute best alignment of the panels to the sun. With the Marjorie K as dramatic proof of solar sailing's principles, Dane is gearing up for the first commercial application of his inventive designs at the Sydney Olympics. Sydney, he explains, won the chance to host the Olympics largely because the city promised to stage an environmentally friendly event, the "Green Games." Dane can picture no more fitting emblem of the Green Games theme than a full-scale Solar Sailor plying Sydney Harbor.
If everything works out as Dane plans, millions of tourists will capture a strange sight in their snapshots of the Green Games
the ferry will carry 220 people at a time on the half-hour voyage from the far ends of the harbor to the Opera House.
