another opinion
I know what you mean. The name on the stern was Mistral, Coyote Point.
But gentlemen, it's a 1970 boat. The Darwin team are quite serious about this project, I mean in the sense of engineering the legs and taking it seriously, however insulting or stupid the idea might be to us.
They took her sailing before beginning the art project, which suggests a certain respect.
The project creates a sailboat that will "walk" in a lost "sea." The metaphor, or gag, or message, or whatever you call it could be said to have meaning. Does art change anything? Does sucking weed in the desert change anything? (don't know about art, but, dude, man, see, nihilists, the thing is, the rug completed the decor of the room, man.)
Our world is changing rapidly due to acts of humans. Sea levels are rising and former wetlands are going dry. Burning Man itself is held on a dry lakebed that was 500 feet deep 12,000 years ago. As resources get scarce in a changing world, some people will go to war, and others will try to peacefully adapt. A sailboat represents peace, and leisure - it's evolving to survive and adapt to this new reality.