Onboard The UK's Only Regular Hovercraft Service

 

Hovertravel Griffon 12000TD "Solent Flyer" Hovercraft

Back in December last year, I had the chance to ride on the UK's only commercial hovercraft service that runs between Southsea and Ryde, connecting the Isle of Wight with the mainland. This service, as I'm writing this post, is the only regular scheduled passenger hovercraft service in the UK that operates every single day. It's also the fastest way to get from the Isle of Wight to the mainland, with a crossing time of about 10 minutes. (The Wightlink high-speed catamarans take about 22 minutes from Portsmouth harbour to Ryde Pier Head)

The SR-N1 prototype hovercraft. Credit: RAF Museum

Now, the concept of hovercrafts is definitely not something new. It came up in the 50s and the first prototype (the SR.N1) took flight on 1959. But if hovercrafts are so much faster than conventional boats, that actually has to wade through waters, why aren't hovercrafts dominating the world of sea transportation? 

With that thought in mind, I set off from my hotel in central Portsmouth, hopped on one of the Hovertravel shuttle buses that takes me directly to Southsea hoverport, which is right next to Clarence Pier. This service is much more popular than I expected as the waiting area was pretty packed.

Boarding Solent Flyer

Boarding starts a few minutes before the scheduled departure time. I followed the locals and stepped into Solent Flyer, the hovercraft that'll be taking me to the Isle of Wight. In service since 2016, she is one of two hovercrafts that operates across the Solent alongside her sister hovercraft "Island Flyer". (Although at the day I was travelling she was the only one in service.) Once stepped into the cabin, I made my way past the cargo space right next to the entrance doors (There's two entrances, one on the left (a ramp) and one on the right (steps), the cargo space is in between for small sized parcels, people's pushchairs and what not.) and into the fairly spacious seating areas. The seating configuration is 2-4-2, something you'd expect on an Airbus A330's economy class. 

The interior of Solent Flyer

Safety Card

The seats are fairly comfy; it's certainly more than good enough for a 10-minute journey. Shortly after I was seated, the skirt inflates, and the hovercraft hovers into the Solent. The ride was much smoother than on a regular ferry as we're just hovering on top of the water. The only thing noticeable really is the engine noise, but obviously it's not as bad as on an actual jet-engine airplane. 

Deboarding at Ryde

Island Flyer parked at Ryde hoverport

We hovered into Ryde hoverport at precisely 10 minutes after "take-off" from Southsea. I hopped off Solent Flyer and managed to get a shot of it up on the footbridge connecting the hoverport with the train station forecourt. (That bit used to be the bus station, as seen on Google maps, now it's just a pedestrian only area.) After admiring Solent Flyer (and Island Flyer parked on the left) for a bit, I headed off to the train station (Ryde Esplanade) to check out the Class 484, converted from the London Underground D78 Stock. (I won't go into much detail on that as this post is about the hovercrafts. I can do another post about my trip on the isle of wight, if you're interested. Let me know in the comments!)

After a day of exploration on the isle of Wight, I headed back to the hoverport and managed to get a proper shot of the hovercraft in action before hopping back on Solent Flyer, which takes me back to Southsea. 

Now, let's go back to the question we looked at earlier: If hovercrafts are much faster and more comfortable than regular boats, why aren't hovercrafts dominating the world of sea transportation? 

The answer is fairly simple: It's much more expensive than operating a regular boat. Hovercrafts require powerful engines and fans to maintain the air cushion (to keep it hovering) and propulsion, which requires significantly more fuel than traditional boats. Maintenance of the skirt and other specialized components is also costly. So, in other words, it's much more fuel thirsty and expensive to keep it in shape and seaworthy, while only able to take a fraction of the payload onboard compared to regular boats. (Solent Flyer can take a maximum of 78 passengers whereas Wightlink's High Speed Catamaran Wight Ryder I can take 260.)

SR.N4 "Princess Anne" Hovercraft. Credit: Dover Transport Museum

One example would be the SR.N4 hovercraft. Once the coolest way to travel across the English Channel, it's the largest civilian hovercraft ever put into regular service. Is it a technological marvel? Yes. Is it how the cool kids travel across the channel? Heck Yeah. Is it also fuel thirsty and expensive to operate? Well… Yes. In comparison with conventional cross channel ferries at the time, speed is its only advantage. Especially when conventional ferries can carry 3–5 times more passengers and 10–12 times more vehicles than the SR.N4. (Comparing with the MS Pride of Dover) Therefore, the SR.N4, though unmatched in speed, its limited capacity and high operating costs has made it less and less economically viable to operate. (There are, of course, much more to tell on the SR.N4's story. As this is just an example for me to proof my point, I'm not going any further into the history of the SR.N4. Look it up if you're interested.) 

Another reason would be hovercrafts are less capable of dealing with rough weather conditions as they rely on the high-pressure air cushion trapped inside the flexible skirt, typically made of rubber or neoprene, to allow them to hover. Strong winds and high waves can tear or deform the skirt, resulting in pressure lost and therefore reduced lift, which might lead to the hovercraft came in contact with the water (or whatever terrain it's hovering through), risking damage to the body. (Note that hovercrafts are built with lightweight materials to reduce weight for hovering. They are nowhere as robust as a conventional ship's hull (which is designed to withstand rough sea conditions), so chances are they'll just get tossed around and the passengers are in for a rough ride.) 

Hovercrafts have been connecting the island since 1965

So, there you have it. The two main reasons why hovercrafts didn't become your holiday gin palace with waterslides on and didn't carry your amazon parcels across the Atlantic. That said, Hovercraft still remains a very specialized solution for very specific applications, such as this Southsea to Ryde service, which doesn't include sailing through rough seas (the Solent is mostly calm and nowhere as rough as the channel), meets a steady local demand (and tourists, of course.), and its historical significance of being the world’s longest-running commercial hovercraft service. 

What are your thoughts on hovercrafts? Have you been on this unique experience across the Solent or simply, been on a hovercraft? Let me know in the comments below!