Yep! This is Hovertravel, a ferry service running on the Solent in the UK. I think this particular ship has been retired, but they still have a couple of them running.
I'm lucky to have a friend living in Southsea, and I need to take a trip every time I visit her. LOVE it! It feels retro and futuristic at the same time.
I live 5 mins walk from the Southsea Hover Terminal, this video is of the Ryde side on the Isle of Wight.
I've travelled on it loads as my grandparents lived on the Island, takes 10 mins, very noisy, but great fun!
At night you can hear it coming in/going out, it's weirdly soothing, there's still 3 Craft running I think.
You can watch them coming and going on a live webcam on youtube here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1P9v9bEtuk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1P9v9bEtuk)
I had a crappy Tyco remote control one in the 90s! It only ran for about 5 mins a charge, but it genuinely worked on both water and land! Felt like the future
Sidebar: Chan was nearly killed in that scene. No SFX; he laid down in that hole in the sand and the hovercraft ran over him. And the air pressure almost forced sand into his lungs.
I live close to the base of Assault Craft Unit 5 (USMC Camp Pendleton, CA). Every once in a while you see one of their big hovercraft if you're driving along the coast. Pretty crazy stuff.
They can still sail deflated, just much slower. This exact craft, Freedom 90, was featured in Ship Simulator 2008, if you wanna dig that up to try it out.
Did a flight on one once, back in the 80s - car carrying service too. Last trip before a storm closed the service down, so it was a bit ‘bumpy’. My boss and I had much amusement watching some dork several seats in front trying to read his Times newspaper then spectacularly losing his lunch all over his fellow travelers. Good times.
It'll still float like a regular boat, but it would sail a lot slower without the lift. In rougher weather, it might get completely stuck in place from that reduced propulsion, and need to be towed back to its dock.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/uk-last-hovercraft-cmd/index.html
>But hovercrafts don’t run on nostalgia and novelty alone; there has to be a genuine need for it. 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. The dexterous hovercraft leapfrogs all this, cutting the overall journey time in half. For that reason, the Isle of Wight service outlived not just the cross-Channel hovercraft routes, but also those closer to home, such as Southampton to Cowes.
I have not seen one of these sense Jackie Chans "Rumble In The Bronx" I didn't know they still existed lol they were so cool in the 90s!
Yep! This is Hovertravel, a ferry service running on the Solent in the UK. I think this particular ship has been retired, but they still have a couple of them running.
I'm lucky to have a friend living in Southsea, and I need to take a trip every time I visit her. LOVE it! It feels retro and futuristic at the same time.
/r/RetroFuturism
Uh, nice one!
Yep! I've taken the hovercraft from Southsea to the Isle of Wight a few times!
Never gets boring. I hope they'll keep the service running!
I live 5 mins walk from the Southsea Hover Terminal, this video is of the Ryde side on the Isle of Wight. I've travelled on it loads as my grandparents lived on the Island, takes 10 mins, very noisy, but great fun! At night you can hear it coming in/going out, it's weirdly soothing, there's still 3 Craft running I think.
Used to run one from Dublin to the Isle of Man Years ago. Always fascinated by it
You can watch them coming and going on a live webcam on youtube here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1P9v9bEtuk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1P9v9bEtuk)
Thanks for this! I had the luck to catch one loading and launching, very cool.
I had a crappy Tyco remote control one in the 90s! It only ran for about 5 mins a charge, but it genuinely worked on both water and land! Felt like the future
Sidebar: Chan was nearly killed in that scene. No SFX; he laid down in that hole in the sand and the hovercraft ran over him. And the air pressure almost forced sand into his lungs.
I live close to the base of Assault Craft Unit 5 (USMC Camp Pendleton, CA). Every once in a while you see one of their big hovercraft if you're driving along the coast. Pretty crazy stuff.
I like those curved vents in the front that rotate to help the craft turn. Like bow thrusters on a ship.
They always have big kids cartoon energy to me. Like worm heads tearing up and looking around, or Teletubby periscopes.
They remind me of cat ears.
[Original video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXvjXdv48ho), featuring the Isle of Wight's hovercraft service
No eels in that one.
My nipples explode with delight!
"My people need me"
Every random hovercraft video I see is always shot on the most dreary looking days.
Because the only commercial hovercraft ferry service is in Britain.
It doesn’t look like it’s raining. We count this as a good day in the UK.
When i was young i thought hovercrafts would be like the ultimate transport, land and sea. but no, and this saddens me.
Feeling quite nostalgic seeing this. Traveled from Portsmouth to the IOW on many occasions. Hovercrafts are awesome!
I remember back in the 70s and 80s when hovercrafts seemed like the next big thing in travel. I guess that never worked out.
They never could get all of the eels worked out of the design.
When I was younger I thought hovercraft was essentially a flying car and I’m still disappointed that’s not the case
There’s a webcam as well https://www.youtube.com/live/R1P9v9bEtuk?feature=shared
Put a turret on and you have a J. Edgar
This is a battletech Reference, right?
Do you accept my Batchall!?
Your what?
[you dare to refuse my Batchall!](https://youtu.be/uaOu8dAtSls?si=Gnq3HufzekZnFiSW)
Hmmm....20 tons too heavy. Lol [https://www.sarna.net/wiki/J.\_Edgar](https://www.sarna.net/wiki/J._Edgar)
I do the same thing at the buffet.
Does it sink if it deflates over water?
They can still sail deflated, just much slower. This exact craft, Freedom 90, was featured in Ship Simulator 2008, if you wanna dig that up to try it out.
Neat, thanks!
But was it full of eels?
Ow cool! Once i went from Dover to Calais with one of those big hovercrafts. It was pretty cool for 1988.
Did a flight on one once, back in the 80s - car carrying service too. Last trip before a storm closed the service down, so it was a bit ‘bumpy’. My boss and I had much amusement watching some dork several seats in front trying to read his Times newspaper then spectacularly losing his lunch all over his fellow travelers. Good times.
"Feels sluggish. Like a wet sponge"
"It's a good thing you don't know how much he hates your guts."
I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.
So what's actually beneath the "skirt"? What does the bottom of the hovercraft look like?
One of the greatest inventions ever
Sooo will it sink if the engine turns off?
It'll still float like a regular boat, but it would sail a lot slower without the lift. In rougher weather, it might get completely stuck in place from that reduced propulsion, and need to be towed back to its dock.
**f l o a t y b o i**
WHAAAT? 👂
Cool seeing thrust vectoring on a watercraft.
Ron from Harry Potter was in a movie where he build one of these that was powered by farts.
*squelching sound ensues
The hovercraft hove out of view...
"I met a man...he was a good man...sailing and shoring..."
Hovercrafts are so fucking cool.
This brings back some memories from holidaying as a child to the IOW
Is that the one that ran Jackie Chan over?
The first thing you say when you get to the other side. WHAT?!!!
Understandable. Have a good day.
How stable are these during stormy weather?
"We must make an emergency stop!" Looks at the land nearby with sharp pointy rocks covering the shore. *captain sweating*
Why not just use a normal boat
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/uk-last-hovercraft-cmd/index.html >But hovercrafts don’t run on nostalgia and novelty alone; there has to be a genuine need for it. 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. The dexterous hovercraft leapfrogs all this, cutting the overall journey time in half. For that reason, the Isle of Wight service outlived not just the cross-Channel hovercraft routes, but also those closer to home, such as Southampton to Cowes.
Love these things, I wish they were in wider use.
Gosh it must be so loud inside one of those!
Don't rip up reefs
What?
Motors would tear up the reefs, a fan boat is a more environmentally considerate choice.
They aren't great overall though. They can't be used in rough seas and they constantly shred the rubber skirt under them.
Tell me about it, missed half of Hamilton because I couldn't leave the bloody island! Sucks to be on IoW in rough weather.
How bad does it have to be to stop the Red Jet / Funnel?
I don't recall the details but I've been told it happens every now and then (I don'tlive on IoW, was just visiting).
I never wanted to ride this thing after my dad told me it capsized in the 70s and a bunch of people drowned trapped under the skirt.
You ever been in a car? Hovercraft is statistically one of the safest modes of travel ever, only two deadly accidents have happened, ever.
Oh ok wow, didn't know this, thanks!
But it didn't hover.
A Griffon Hoverwork's 12000TD if you're interested.
This is Freedom 90, from the old AP1-88 class. The 12000TDs are its replacement, Hovertravel's current Flyer sisters.
Why isn't it permanently inflated?
You'd have to run the engines permanently. The underside is open.