AlumaSki: Alaska-born, world bound: manufacturing the future of adventure and rescue.

• Author: Slaten, Russ
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Manufacturing

Alaska is built on adventure, and the AlumaSki is the embodiment of adventure. The AlumaSki is a personal watercraft with the engine of a jet ski and a body made of aluminum.

Owner and founder Brian MacKinnon says it is perfect for hunting, fishing, and exploring lakes, streams, and hard to reach waterways due to depth. It was built to operate in water as shallow as two inches, is able to reach speeds of forty-five miles per hour, and can carry a total of one thousand pounds.

"The AlumaSki is like a three-boat-in-one combination where you can run it like an airboat in very shallow water, you can run it on lakes like a recreational jet boat, and its versatile design allows you to run it on the ocean," says Slavic Lund, general manager for MacKinnon Marine Technologies, Inc.

Alaska-based MacKinnon Marine engineered and built the first prototype AlumaSki in Anchorage in 2011. The lightweight, aluminum hull, with a nearly flat underside, delivers responsive handling and great turning performance while remaining remarkably stable, Lund says.

In celebration of the launch of the AlumaSki, MacKinnon Marine held a public introduction and demonstration in July at Wasilla Lake in the Mat-Su Valley. The company put up the third prototype for public testing after it went through two prototypes in two and a half years, undertaking transformations and upgrades to make the watercraft more buoyant, stable, and powerful, Lund says.

AlumaSki's third prototype, a colorful neon green, is as bright as it is unique. It is powered by an ultra-lightweight, water-cooled, 4-cylinder, 1052cc Yamaha engine. Electronic fuel injection makes it the most fuel efficient engine in the industry, as it provides high-power output with low fuel consumption and exhaust emissions, MacKinnon says.

"Yamaha has some the greatest engines for motorsports, and that's why we made the decision to use Yamaha, and it's a 100 percent Yamaha-powered machine," Lund says.

The base model runs for $24,995. The custom model is $30,000, which includes the capability to reverse, a 12-volt outlet, an internal and electronic bilge pump, and 6,500 color options, MacKinnon says.

"I like it better than any jet ski I've ever been on," said Jason Phelps, an Anchorage hunter and fisherman at AlumaSki's first demonstration in July.

Military Support

The AlumaSki began as a watercraft meant for outdoor enthusiasts--Mac Kinnon himself is an Alaska outdoorsman. But, interest from state and federal agencies...