In the Isle of Wight’s case, Ryde’s pier juts half a mile out to sea, so even once you’ve made the (slower) ferry trip over from Portsmouth, there’s still a bit of a schlep to dry land. Evening Standard/Getty Imagesīut hovercrafts don’t run on nostalgia and novelty alone there has to be a genuine need for it. The Saunders Roe SRN1 experimental hovercraft designed by Cockerell. Hovercrafts don’t run on nostalgia and novelty alone So where did this service succeed where its bigger international cousin didn’t? The “Island Flyer” and “Solent Flyer” even joined nationwide applause for UK health workers in 2020 – the bottoms of their skirts slapping on the concrete pads at Ryde.Īltogether, Hovertravel’s route clocks up just under a million passengers a year. Perhaps part of people’s love for the hovercraft is its sense of near-sentience the way they swell and deflate as if breathing. “There’s a gentleman who comes for the Isle of Wight Festival,” Frost says, “He comes from Australia and he only uses the hovercraft because he loves it.” Japanese tourists are also known to come out of their way to marvel at these oddball amphibious craft. Hovercrafts aren’t just special to kids, either. “It’s just really great that you’ve been part of their day, even if it’s just that 10-minute crossing, you’ve made their day.” “The kids’ faces light up,” says Hovertravel duty manager Terri Frost, who oversees operations on both sides of the water.
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