No - it's an 'amphibious cycle', built by Southampton University Engineering students, and tested on the Itchen. For the full story and more pics, read on.June 5 update: Daily Echo takes up the story
Engineering students from Southampton University and their lecturers have been spotted taking to the Itchen in a rather unusual craft.
For their group project, seven students were given the task of building an
amphibious cycle. The human powered vehicle was built from scratch and may be ridden from land to water and back without stopping. The cycle is capable of doing 15kmh on land and took just 80 seconds to cover a 100m stretch of river. The students suggested that it might find use in remote areas where cycle journeys require fording a number of small waterways. There is an excellent video of the development of the vehicle, and of an early test voyage, on youtube here
