Hovertravel’s craft of the future, Solent Flyer and Island Flyer, have both been officially named by Sir Ben Ainslie CBE at a traditional blessing and naming ceremony in Ryde this morning (Monday).
Sir Ben, the most successful sailor in Olympic history, cut a ribbon to release 2 bottles of champagne that smashed simultaneously against the 2 hulls. This was after Father Jonathan Harris, Chaplain to Ryde Sea Cadets unit, blessed the craft. The sea cadet’s band played at the ceremony.
Crowds of onlookers gathered on the Quay, the pad and on the railway bridge to watch the ceremony, waving flags and taking photographs of the historic occasion.
The new craft are both liveried with a dynamic representation of the union flag which combines red, blue and the white background of the craft to create a traditional look with a contemporary feel.
Neil Chapman, managing director of Hovertravel said:
“The names of our craft describe what our hovercraft do and where they do it. We chose these names to promote the fact that our craft fly at 1.5 metres above the water. The addition of ‘Solent’ is to identify the specific stretch of water where we operate and we added ‘Island’ to demonstrate that we connect two islands.
“Our new craft fly the flag for Britain with their union flag livery and we are delighted to have Ben Ainslie, a great British hero, take time off his busy schedule of training for the next America’s Cup event, to name our hovercraft.”
Sir Ben Ainslie said:
“The Hovercraft was a revolution in sea travel and has become a real iconic British invention. It’s great to see these two new innovative vessels continue to show off the strength of the British marine industry right now. Whilst out training on our development boats, we often ‘fly by’ each other during their trips from the mainland to the Isle of Wight – in addition, since moving to the Island recently, it is also an extremely fast and reliable way to travel.”
In the next month Solent Flyer will be used on an ad hoc basis to service the Hovertravel timetable. This phased strategy of implementation allows the teams at Hovertravel to gradually introduce the new procedures and policies associated with the new craft without disrupting the daily operation.
Last month Island Echo had a first look at Solent Flyer, the first of the 2 new hovercraft to be built. See more photographs at https://www.islandecho.co.uk/news/first-look-at-hovertravels-brand-new-craft.
