Google's Larry Page Mulling Boat-Plane Investment

By Barbara E. Hernandez

| Wednesday, Nov 28, 2012 | Updated 5:58 AM PDT

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Google's Larry Page Mulling Boat-Plane Investment

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NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 27: Co-founder of Google Larry Page smiles during the Clinton Global Inititative annual meeting September 27, 2007 in New York. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Larry Page

Google chief executive and co-founder Larry Page took a ride on one of the world's fastest sailboats while he mulled over investing in the part-boat, part-plane.

Page took a ride in the Hydroptere in San Francisco Bay last week, according to the Marin Independent Journal, while the boat's creator Alain Thebault hoped for a wealthy Silicon Valley sponsor. Thebault hopes to use the funds to try to break the trans-Pacific speed record.

In 2009, the Hydroptere broke the world speed record for 500 meters and hit a speed just over 52 knots. Thebault now hopes to ride from Los Angeles to Honolulu and needs about $3 million to do that.

Apparently that means taking Silicon Valley moguls for a ride and likely hearing a pitch from Thebault. As Business Insider reported, Page said he was interested in high-speed sailing on his Google+ page a week before, so it seems as if Thebault could have been checking up on the billionaire.