Almost as soon as the airplane became a reality in the early twentieth century, inventors began experimenting with seaplanes with floats that were able to take off from and land on the sea. These were called hydroplanes and some of the first examples were built in France. But the name created some confusion, and still does, for it had, since 1870, been used as the name for a light, high-powered boat designed to plane over the water at high speeds. Invented by English pastor Charles Meade Ramus in the mid-nineteenth century the hydroplane boat did not become a reality until about the same time as the seaplane. It is often called the sea sled or hydrofoil today.