Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2007 | Page 126
life
LOCAL BUSINESS
Hovering on
the fast route
to success
The Island is proud of being
unique, and nowhere is its
individuality shown to better
advantage than in Solent
Express, the new BHT-130
hovercraft that has entered
service on Hovertravel’s
Ryde-Southsea route.
The BHT-130 design is not
just the latest in hovercraft
technology, but is also
a symbol of the pioneer
spirit and loyalty to the
community that Hovertravel
and its subsidiary company,
Hoverwork, have sustained on
the Island for over 40 years.
The Hovertravel story began
in 1965 when six intrepid
entrepreneurs introduced
a passenger hovercraft
service between Ryde and
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two mainland terminals at
Southsea and Gosport. They
used a 38-seater Westland
SR.N6 hovercraft and within
a few weeks had carried
over 30,000 passengers.
There were few frills attached
to that first service but what
it offered was revolutionary.
The hovercraft was the latest
form of transport, first invented
in 1956 by Sir Christopher
Cockerell, whose ingenuity
produced a craft that moved
on a cushion of air, producing
speed and, most importantly,
an amphibious capability.
This was exciting enough, but
for passengers on that Solent
route, the hovercraft’s ability
to travel both on land and
water marked it out as a real
winner. Tide variations meant
that conventional passenger
ferries coming into Ryde always
had to berth well outside the
town centre, but now it was
possible to land within feet
of the Esplanade, and avoid
the trundle up the pier.
That remains true today.
“The Solent provides perfect
conditions for hovercraft,”
says Hovertravel chairman
Christopher Bland. “With a
ten-minute journey time, we
operate the fastest and best
value-for-money route between
the Island and the mainland,
and our new Solent Express will
further streamline our service.”
Hovercraft technology has
become increasingly ingenious
since the SR.N6 appeared
on the Solent, and the new
BHT-130 is an outstanding
achievement for the Island. It
was planned, designed and
built entirely on the Island by
the team at Hoverwork, and
the new craft, with its imposing
structure and sophisticated
engineering, is a tribute both
to the skills of that team and
to the company’s contribution
to the IW economy.
“We wanted a hovercraft that
would take more passengers
and give a more comfortable
ride, particularly in adverse
conditions,” says Hovertravel’s
chief executive Richard Box.
The 29-metre Solent Express,
with its 130-passenger capacity
and smart new layout, has won
the admiration of Hovertravel
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