Classic Fast Ferries · 2012-10-19 · 2 classicfastferries 7 – 2001 or the model brigade of classic fast ferries readers, here is my 1:16.667 scale Radio Controlled unfinished

classicf a s tferries

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2 classicfastferries 7 – 2001

or the model brigade of classic fast ferries readers, here is my 1:16.667 scale Radio Controlled unfinished model of the former SydneyPT.50 hydrofoil Fairlight. That's the scale you wind up with when youincrease the 1:25 scale general arrangement I worked off by 50%. The hull is made from marine ply, which a model builder built forme. The foils are made from solid aluminium, which I spent about 30hours working on to get to the shape and finish I wanted, making themas close as possible to full sized craft foil profile and section to ensure amodel that would fly properly. It would have been much easier to makethem out of wood also but I wanted strength and, more importantly, alow centre of gravity for lateral stability as on the real craft.

http://classicfastferries.go.to

Fast ferry photo-featuremagazine depicting thehistory of hydrofoils,hovercraft, catamarans& other commerciallyoperated high-speedferries.

Editor & publishert i m t i m o l e o ne-mail: [email protected]

Issued 6-8 times peryear in pdf format.Details on publishingdate for the upcomingissue can be found onour website.

All artwork and lay-outdesigns by the editor,except where noted.

Submittals ofmanuscripts andphotos, old and new,and relevant newsitems areencouraged.

I N s i d e :

ScaleBox – PT.50 Fairlight

Vindile – A Swedish viking battling the Baltic

Lake Ontario operators –More speed, less haste

Where the river narrowsVoskhods on theSt- Laurent

Classic Shots

c o v e r P H O T O :

Arriving from the Virgin Islandsas deck cargo, KolkhidaKatran 2 is being craned ontothe water at Québec City(Seaflight Hydrofoils)Turn to page 10 for more!

(c) 2001,classic fast ferries

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16.667 times smaller than life b y : g a r r y f r y

classicf a s tferries

classicfastferries 7 – 2001 3

Previous experience with a 1:40scale PT.50 kit (featured in cff 5/2000)proved to be very unstable and wouldactually roll over on occasion. Power is by a 35cc Kawasaki"whipper snipper" motor, air cooled,connected to a custom made contrarotating gearbox driving 2 shafts fororiginality. Unfortunately, it does nothave a reversing gearbox – which ispossible but very complex. Acentrifugal clutch is used to engageand disengage drive at idle. After much frustration with the1:40 scale kit – electric motor andbatteries only good for 10 minutesflying, if that – I came to theconclusion that a hydrofoil modelhad to have an internal combustion

Opposite, top: This back-lightshot beautifully shows the lifesize-like appearance and attitudeof the scratch-built scale model(Garry Fry)_____________________________________

accessible engine and with the sizemuch less fragility of the model. Thephotos shown here (opposite) are of theunfinished model's very first run. Icouldn't believe the perfect attitudeand stability on first attempt. The model, without full scale flapson bow foil, had very poor turningability and any helm produced a largerooster tale which I attribute to theoversize 6mm ss shafts and aft foilbearings which, located on actual

Factory-made 1:40 scale kit PT.50 refitted with glowplug engine, incorrectlylabelled as Fairlight (Garry Fry)

engine for maximum enjoyment andpracticality. I re-engined the Japanese PT.50 kitwith a marinised, watercooled glowplug engine that did 13,000 rpm frommemory. The boat went like a rocket!Unfortunately it went too fast even atminimum revolutions to operatehullborne, and no clutch or asterngear. To hook up the battery to theglow plug, get it started, put the topback on and get the vessel into thewater before the engine cooked wasa major effort which was soonabandoned. At that point I concluded that theonly way to have a viable RChydrofoil was to make it much bigger,enough to accomodate a large easily

shaftline position, interfere with cleanwater flow between outside of rudderand shaft bearing. Removed rudders on subsequentlater run eliminated rooster tailaltogether but, as luck (?) would haveit, the throttle jammed open resultingin a collision with the seawalldamaging bow foil and hull. Thedamage has since been repaired but Ihave not had the opportunity to finishthe model. n

a l s o s e e b a c k c o v e r

A not-so-classicclassic issue

Can you call hydrofoilsdelivered six or so yearsago classic? Or even acatamaran delivered in1988? Hardly.And probably not. Then again, while thehydrofoils themselvesfeatured in this issue maybe fairly new, the designand basic idea as suchobviously dates back muchfurther than this andtherefore is a classic, atleast in the world of fastferries. Moreover, since thehydrofoil cannot be said tohave been the order of theday, literally speaking, forthe past several years anysuch new service beingintroduced should beencouraged and of interestto readers of this journal. The catamaran in theother feature story thismonth is a classic in that itwas among the first to bebuilt by the Westamarinyard of Norway withsymmetrical hulls andwaterjet propulsion andindeed the first fast ferry toenter service in the BalticSea between the Swedishmainland and the island ofGotland. At the time one ofthe longest open sea routesin the world operated by acatamaran. And... to (almost) anystory there's a history.

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Share your story andpictures with fellow

fast ferry modellers inclassic fast ferries !

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e d i t o r i a l


he use of water jet propulsion in high-speed passenger catamarans took off in thelate seventies and came to the front duringthe first half of the eighties. Pioneers in thisfield were two Scandinavian yards,Marinteknik Verkstads of Öregrund,Sweden and Westamarin in Mandal,Norway, soon to be followed by anotherNorwegian yard, Fjellstrand based inOmastrand near Bergen. However, bothWestamarin and Fjellstrand had beenbuilding fast catamarans with traditionalpropulsion, i.e. propellers/rudders, since1971 and 1976. The interest for this second generationcatamarans was significant, and as thedecade went on units were delivered by allthree yards to both established and newoperators in almost every corner of theworld, including of course Scandinavia.

G O T L A N D S L I N J E NG O T L A N D S L I N J E N

One of the newcomers on the fast ferryscene in Swedish waters was Nordström &Thulin, a shipping company based inStockholm. Trading as Gotlandslinjen, itplaced an order for a 37m water jet poweredW 3700 catamaran with Westamarin in 1987for operation in the Baltic between themainland and the island of Gotland. The previous year Westamarin had beenacquired by the Swede Ship group withinwhich was also Oskarshamns Varv, onSweden's south-east coast. Due to capacityproblems at the Mandal yard at the time itwas decided to build the structure of theW 3700 at Oskarshamn, then have it towedto Westamarin for completion.

The transportation of passengers and cargoby sea between Gotland and the Swedishmainland had been carried out since 1865 byRederi AB Gotland, more commonly knownas Gotlandsbolaget. In a move by theGovernment to control this traffic, in 1977Gotlandsbolaget was subject to a ten yearconcession agreement in which fares andschedules were dictated by the State. By thetime this agreement was due for renewal foranother ten years, several other companieshad bid on the contract. The companywinning the exclusive rights this time wasN&T Gotlandslinjen. Prior to this there had been considerablediscontent among the public as to the carferries' timetable; some departures andarrivals were on awkward hours whichcatered for the cargo business rather than thepassengers it was felt. Also, packed ferriesduring the peak season were unpopular –although these were otherwise of highstandard and tailormade for the routes theyserved. Gotlandslinjen believed it could do thingsbetter. One way of improving the service wasthe introduction of a fast ferry alternative.This also would appeal to air travelers,particularly those living south of Stockholmas Stockholm Arlanda airport lies quite a bitoff city limits to the north. The catamaran would cut the travel time onthe longest of the two routes – between Visby,Gotland and Nynäshamn, 60 kilometres southof Stockholm – in half; from five hours byconventional ferry to 2½ hours. Also, it would open up for a new market; thatof day-trippers wanting a day out in eitherGotland or Stockholm.

Westamaran 3700 Vindile picking up speed at Visby,heading for the Baltic and the Swedish mainland in 1988

(Mats Finnson)


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Top + Right:Vindile gettingrefuelled in the

Swedish port ofHöganäs on its

delivery trip fromMandal to

Gotland on May25th 1988

(tim timoleon)Previous page:

The catamaranafter being refitted

with an anti-pitching triangular

section on thecentreline at the

bow in 1990(tim timoleon)

T H E W 3 7 0 0T H E W 3 7 0 0

Built to Det Norske Veritas 1A1 R45 LightCraft classification and with a price tag sayingSEK 30 million, the catamaran was acceptedat Mandal on May 24, 1988 and left forGotland the following day. Earlier in themonth a sister vessel had been delivered to anoperator in northern Norway, and a thirdW 3700 for another Norwegian customer wasbeing prepared for delivery later that samemonth. The hulls of these were likewise builtby Oskarshamns Varv. While the Norwegian craft were mixed-traffic versions carrying 186 passengers intwo saloons and with a cargo capacity of 65cu.m, the Swedish vessel was an all-passenger catamaran fitted out with 322seats, 259 of which in a main deck saloonand 63 in a smaller compartment on upperdeck behind the wheelhouse and crewquarters. The main deck saloon included amid-ship catering area and six toilets aft.The contract full load service speed was40.5 knots. The catamaran was officially christenedVindile by H.R.H.Queen Silvia in its homeport of Visby on May 27th. The namechosen for the vessel datesback more than 900 yearsas it was used by theGoth Viking Knobburon his fastestship.

The next day Vindile made a non-revenue round trip to Stockholm to bepresented to the travel industry, media,etc. The schedueld service was inauguratedfour days later, on June 1st. Two dailyround trips were made from Visby toNynäshamn and one to Västervik, a townsome 300 kilometres further down thecoast. Journey times were 2 hours 30minutes and 1 hour 50 minutes. The SEK230 fare for a one way adult was approx.forty percent more than on the operator'sconventional ferries. But, as they say, timeis money. As is speed. The mainmachinery on Vindile would use 33% lessfuel per passenger compared with theconventional ferries, on the other hand, itwould require between four and six tripsby catamaran to transport the sameamount of passengers as on these.


The operating hours of Vindile was quiteimpressive. Out of a working day of 16½hours between 0630 and 2300 the vesselwould idle for only 190 minutes. Thisrequired three different operating crews, eachconsisting of captain, chief officer, chiefengineer, a deck hand and four cabinattendants.

A D I F F I C U L T T A S KA D I F F I C U L T T A S K

The new fast ferry service obviously was awelcome alternative to the traditional way oftraveling to and from Gotland. Still, thingsdid not develop quite the way the operatorhad hoped for. It turned out the W 3700 was too smallfor operation on open sea routes such asthose in the Baltic. Even in the summermonths these waters can get quite choppyand the movements of Vindile would proveso uncomfotable to passengers thatseasickness was a common sight on board. The author traveled on the catamaran onone of these occasions and witnessedseveral passengers lying on the floor in theaisles by the door to the open aft deck, asthey were not allowed out there while atspeed, trying to get a breath of fresh air andfocus on the horizon. All serving ofbeverages and snacks also had to stop.

In order to minimize the inconvenienceto passengers (and crew) under suchconditions Vindile would normally be run atrelatively high speed, about 30 knots, tobetter cut through the waves. Or operationwas cancelled alltogether. Thus, some 50out of about 500 crossings were lost due tobad weather during the three months ofoperation, June through August. A catamaran moves differently from amonohull vessel. The waterline of the hullson a catamaran obviously is shorter thanthat of a monohull of similar displacement

due to its greater breath which can proveunfavorable if the waves build up to the samelength, or longer, than the catamaran's hulls.The result is a high roll and pitch periodwhich is uncomfortable to those on board thecraft.

Top: Profile and general arrangement of Vindile(Westamarin)Above: The catamaran alongside at Visby, andthe bridge (Mats Finnson)


It had been no secret that introducing acatamaran in the Baltic was an experimentin order for Gotlandslinjen to harvest somefirst-hand knowledge as to operating fastferries in these waters. Even so, while partlybad experience may be better than noexperience, the operator probably hadexpected a different outcome of the firstseason of trial service when it embarkedupon the project.

BornholmerPilen, and put into service on asomewhat less demanding seasonal route –although still in the Baltic – between theisland of Bornholm and Kastrup justoutside of Copenhagen and strategicallylocated adjacent to Copenhagen Airport. Although a domestic route, the catamaranwould take a shortcut passing through theFalsterbo Canal in southernmost Sweden –permission to pick up/disembark Swedish

Vindile did not return for the 1989 seasonand while Gotlandslinjen looked into thepossibilities of introducing a larger craftable to carry 400 passengers and 40 cars atspeeds of 45-50 knots, it would be anothereight years before another fast ferryappeared in the area.

T A K I N G T H E S O U T H E R NT A K I N G T H E S O U T H E R N R O U T E R O U T E

The catamaran was sold off – for SEK 35,5million, which was more than the contractprice – in December 1988 but leased backto N&T Gotlandslinjen. It did not see anyemployment between September of thatyear and August 1989 when it was charteredby a newly established Danish company,

passengers was not granted – thus, combinedwith the higher speed, cutting travel time onthe conventional ferries by some four hoursto 2 hours 45 minutes. Three round trips aday between 06:00 and 22:00 were timetableduntil October.

Above: Vindile passes the bridge across theFalsterbo Canal at Höllviksnäs entering theÖresund (tim timoleon)

Below : Renamed Pilen 3 the catamaran wasoperated between Kastrup and Malmö for a fewmonths in 1991 (tim timoleon)


Vindile was subsequently purchased byBornholmerPilen in 1990 and renamedPilen 3 continued operating on the directBornholm-Kastrup route between May andOctober. In April the following year thecompany decided to reroute Pilen 3 tooperate between Kastrup and Malmö;Sweden's third largest city. By doing thisnot only was the exposure to an often upsetBaltic Sea eliminated, now that the servicebecame an international route the operatorwas allowed to sell duty free goods onboard. Later that year the rather off-lyingport of Kastrup was abandoned in favor ofCopenhagen itself. Pilen 3 was to stay on the lucrativeCopenhagen-Malmö run for the next nineyears, operating in direct competitionwith State-owned DSØ/ScandlinesFlyvebådene until taken over byScandlines last October. Being sold once again earlier this year toItalian fast ferry company SNAV, thecatamaran, now named SNAV Andromeda,entered service during the summer in theBay of Naples and Sicily. n

Top: Still only two years ago everything lookedbright and sunny for Pilen 3, as it is seen herepassing the small breakwater lighthouse inMalmö harbor (tim timoleon)

Centre: The catamaran was sold in Italyearlier this year and entered service withSNAV in the Bay of Naples and Sicilyas SNAV Andromeda (Anders Ahlerup)

W e s t a m a r a n 3 7 0 0 V i n d i l eBuilt by Westamarin and Oskarshamns Varv, 1988

Yard # 95

Length overall 37mBreadth, moulded 9.5m

Draft, max. 1.7mTonnage 332 grt

Passengers 322Crew 8

Service speed, 50% payload 40.5 knots(normally 35-37 knots)

Fuel consumption 916 kg/hr. at 100% mcrMain engines 2 x Mtu 16v 396 tb84 /

2,040 kW at 1,940 rpmWaterjets 2 x KaMeWa 63/s


At the momentthere are atleast elevencommercial

hydrofoilswithin the

boundries ofCanada.

This is thelargest numberever at any one

time

All being of Russian origin, four of these are of the 140-seat VolgaKatran type, which is an updated version of the well-knownKolkhida and a number of which were previously exported toAlilauro in Italy, among others - and the rest are 70-seatVoskhods, similar to those used by Dutch operator Connexxion FastFlying Ferries.

lanked by one of North America's largest and mostcosmopolitan cities – Toronto – and the Wonder of themighty Niagara Falls as well as a number of other picturesqueand historic spots and villages on both the Canadian and U.S.shores, you would think that fast ferries have been criss-crossing the western portion of Lake Ontario since thebeginning of time. Not so. In fact, it was not until recentlythat taking the lake the fast way entered adulthood after aseries of earlier attempts.

O P E R A T O R S


Driving around the lake from Toronto toNiagara, for instance, takes in the regionof two hours – during rush hourconsiderably longer – whereas thehydrofoil brings you there in a little morethan an hour.

Royal Hydrofoil CruisesThe first hydrofoils to enter a scheduledpassenger service on the Lake were alsothe world's largest commercial such. Delivered during 1968-71 byWestermoen Hydrofoil of Norway thethree 165-ton craft, of the SupramarPT.150 type, had previously seen servicein the Canary Islands and Scandinaviabefore being transferred across theAtlantic to the United States towards theend of 1977 to operate between Floridaand the Bahamas. Incidentally, this wasthe third such trip for the prototypePT.150 as this had been briefly operatedin the Caribbean in 1969-70 and thenreturned to Norway. Following repairs at Port Everglades –the tow across the Pond had been toughon the three sisters – and variousrefurbishing, including reducing thenumber of seats from the original 250 to200, the service in the Gulf Streamcommenced in April 1978. As had beenthe case earlier on, operating the largePT.150s was not trouble-free though andthe service was discontinued in mid-1979. Instead a newly established company,

Royal Hydrofoil Cruises, registered inPanama, decided to have the vesselsmoved to Lake Ontario for a proposedservice across the Lake between Torontoand Fort Niagara and possibly Rochester,both in the U.S. Named Prince of Niagara, Princess of theLakes and Queen of Toronto and flying thePanamian flag the majestic hydrofoilsentered service the following May on a 31-nautical mile route between downtownToronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake,Ontario, only a stone's throw away fromthe world-famous namesake Falls. TheFort Niagara destination, on the U.S. sideof the Niagara River, had been abandonedsince it could not offer suitable dockingfacilities for the hydrofoils. Scheduled travel time was between 70minutes and 1 hour 20 minutes, dependingon conditions. Of this as much as up to27 minutes was consumed running off-foildue to speed restrictions at both ends. Initially up to eight round trips a daywere carried out between 0800 and 0120;first and last departures both being fromNiagara-on-the-Lake. A two-class systemapplied. The adult single fare was CAD 20in 1st Class accomodation – in the bowsaloon on main deck offering a mix ofcouch- and airline-style seating andfeaturing large forward facing windows –and CAD 17,50 tourist.

Virgin HydrofoilServicesKatran 2arriving fromthe Caribbeanand beingcraned onto thewater atQuébec in 1998


Left: Royal Hydrofoil Cruises PT.150 Princess of theLakes out of the Lake (Ekberg)_____________________________________

The 1981 season never got to a take-off,however. A non-Canadian owned business,RHC was denied a licence to continueoperating in Canada and the three PT.150swere eventually returned to Port Everglades,Florida for lay-up.

Canadian Lake ExpressIn mid-1991 a pair of Voskhod hydrofoils builtby the Gorki Sormovo yard arrived in Canada.Ordered by Canadian Lake Express and namedSunrise I and Sunrise II the 68-passenger vesselswere to be introduced between Toronto and St.Catharines and Niagara-on-the-Lake. A seriesof difficulties involving the authorities arosehowever and the service never came about.

The timetable was subsequently reduced, aswere the fares charged, to a maximum of fourround trips a day between 0800 and 2320 tobetter meet with the demand as well asoperating costs. The service was suspendedfor the winter in October and was expected toresume in April 1981 by which time anypossible ice would be gone. Those traveling on the craft during thesefirst five months were mainly tourists andshoppers whereas the idea of the hydrofoilservice being an attractive alternative to publictransportation or driving around the lakenever really caught on among commuters.This obviously had to do with the fact that thehydrofoils did not operate a year-roundservice.

Waterways Transportation ServicesFive years on, in 1996, another company,Waterways Transportation Services, applied fora coasting trade licence to operate anAustralian-built and -registered catamaranbetween Toronto and St. Catharines for the1997 season. The application was subsequentlyaltered to involve a U.S. registered catamaran,also of Australian origin; Incat 30m KlondikeExpress, which had previously operated betweenSeattle, WA and Victoria, B.C. as well as inAlaska. While a license was obtained, no service wasimplemented in 1997.


In September 1997 Waterways acquired a36m catamaran, Condor 8, from ChannelIslands operator Condor. Delivered by theMarinteknik yard in Singapore in 1988, the300-passenger vessel had been employedon Condor's seasonal service between St.Malo, France and Jersey/Guernsey. It leftEurope for Canada, as deck cargo, inOctober. Following the standard tug-of-war withthe authorities as well as other operators inthe area obviously not welcoming newcompetition, the former C.I. catamaran,now renamed Waterways 1, entered servicein the spring of 1998 between Toronto andJordan Harbour, Ontario, close to St.Catharines. This service, too, was rathershortlived. The catamaran returned to Europeanwaters last year to enter service with SNAVin Italy.

Shaker Cruise LineOne of the companies objecting to theintroduction of Waterways 1 was ShakerCruise Lines, based in Toronto. Thisalready operated a cross-Lake service, usinga 275-passenger 20-knot ferry, betweenToronto and Port Dalhouise, only twomiles from Jordan Harbour, and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Moreover, it intended tointroduce the two former Canadian LakeExpress Voskhod hydrofoils, which hadbeen laid up at Toronto since their arrivalthere in 1991, in 1998. Renamed Sunrise V and Sunrise VI theseentered service on two routes linkingToronto and Port Dalhouise and Lewiston,an historic village about seven miles fromthe Falls, on the U.S. shore of LakeOntario. The international route wasoperated on Friday-Sunday only with eithertwo or three round trips a day. Crossingtime was 75 minutes. Both craft were exposed to misfortune,however. Sunrise VI was damaged by waveimpact and Sunrise V suffered a bentpropeller shaftand foil damageafter havingstruck anunderwaterobject off PortWeller and hadto be towedto Toronto forlifting andinspection. The vesselsremain inToronto andtheir futurelooks uncertain.

Opposite, bottom: Sunrise V, one of a pair of Voskhodhydrofoils briefly operated by Shaker Cruise Lines

(Jeff Cameron)

Below: Seaflight III and Seaflight I showing off on LakeOntario


Hydrofoil Lake Jet Lines/Seaflight Hydrofoils

Never before seen on Lake Ontario, a third fastferry operator entered the scene in 1998. A Canadian company, Hydrofoil Lake JetLines, had been formed to operate a pair ofKolkhida hydrofoils previously operated in theCaribbean by Virgin Hydrofoil Services. Virgin Hydrofoil took delivery of its firstKolkhida, Katran 1, in 1995 and introduced it onthe 40-nautical mile route between St. Thomasand St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands in Aprilof that year. A few months on, in September,the area was hit by hurricane Merlin whichcaused a lot of damage to the vessel, which wasmoored in St. Thomas at the time, such asbroken windows, lost life rafts and foil damage.The hydrofoil was taken to San Juan, PuertoRico for repairs. In the meantime a second Kolkhida, Katran 2,arrived in the USVI from the Volga shipyard inRussia. This operated successfully on the St.Thomas-St. Croix run until May 1996 when ithad to be pulled out of service for inspectionfollowing an emergency manoeuvre to avoid acollision with a whale (which was saved).Replacing Katran 2, which was dry-docked in St.Thomas, Katran 1 was returned into service onJune 10th. Less than a month later hurricane Berthaswept in on the islands. Katran 2, stillundergoing repairs in St. Thomas, had to beremoved from its high position on dry land andlowered onto the water. Both hydrofoils weretied up to a breakwater wall and secured withtwo anchors each at the Crown Bay Marina.There was no damage to neither of the vesselsthis time. At the end of July 1996 work onKatran 2 was concluded and VirginHydrofoil now had a two-vesseloperation for thefirst time.


In earlySeptember athird brandnew Kolkhida,Katran 3,arrived inSan Juan –and so didhurricaneEdward.This wasfollowed acouple ofweeks laterby anotherhurricane,Hortenzia.Thanks to theexperienced teamof Virgin Hydrofoil the vessels gotout of these attacks unharmed as well.While the first two Kolkhidasreturned to the scheduled inter-islandservice, Katran 3 was primarily beingused as a charter vessel. Towards the end of the year yetanother unit, Katran 4, was finished bythe Volga yard and shipped to theCaribbean as deck cargo on board afreight ship. Now with four vessels at hand,operation was expanded to includesightseeing tours around St. Thomasand St. John, a weekend servicebetween St. Thomas and Puerto Ricoand charter services to Tortola in theBritish Virgin Islands. While the hydrofoils were popularwith tourists, business travelers andcommuters, the owners were startingto get tired of the constant threatfrom the hurricanes and thereforedecided to transfer two of thehydrofoils to less temperamentalsurroundings. In August 1997 the first vessel,Katran 4, arrived as deck cargo inQuebec City where it was loweredand taken along the St. LawrenceSeaway to Toronto under its ownpower. The second hydrofoil, Katran1, followed in April 1998. Having obtained the necessarycertification and permission to run inCanada and renamed Seaflight I andSeaflight II, the hydrofoils enteredservice between Toronto andQueenston in May.

Spring-launching of Seaflight I and Seaflight II in Toronto


Opposite: Seaflight I and the Toronto skyline with the famous CN Tower at sunset

At the end of August Seaflight I was involvedin an incident when at speed it hit somemoored leisure craft, sinking one of them.There were no injuries or damage to thehydrofoil though. Back in the Caribbean hurricane George hitPuerto Rico in October 1988, again causingdamage to the remaining pair of Katrans beingtied up here. At this point the management ofVirgin Hydrofoil decided to give up the fightwith the hurricanes and to have Katran 2 andKatran 3 transferred to the Lake Ontariooperation as well. Following repairs, theseentered service as Seaflight II and Seaflight IV.Becoming surplus to requirement, however,these have since been put up for sale. Approaching the millennium, the companychanged its marketing name to Seaflight 2000which this year was altered to SeaflightHydrofoils. This year one roundtrip between Torontoand Queenston was scheduled on Friday-Sunday between May 19th and June 30th; fromJuly 1st one round trip on Wednesday wasadded and from September 1st the servicereturned to the weekends-only schedule. Ashuttle service, included in the hydrofoil fare,runs to and from Queenston dock and eitherNiagara Falls or Niagara-on-the-Lake. Inaddition, one-hour sightseeing trips exploringthe Toronto waterfront was offered on Fridayevenings in July and August.

Top: Defunct Shaker Cruise Line's pair ofVoskhods being laid up next to the Seaflight craftat its maintenance base in Toronto

Right: Little man checking large foils onSeaflight III

A one way adult was CAD 35 to Niagara Fallsand CAD 40 to Niagara-on-the-Lake, withsavings on a return. These fares were inclusiveof complimentary beverages. Reduced rates forseniors and students and children up to the ageof 10 applies. A limited number of bicycles canbe carried for those wanting to explore theNiagara region by bike. The hydrofoils are also available for privatefunctions and event charters. Plans for the 2002 season include addingmore departures and destinations in the westernportion of Lake Ontario. n

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Katran hydrofoil

V o l g aVolga Shipbuilding'sengagement in hydrofoilsdates back to 1955 when,at the time known asKrasnoye Sormovo, ittook on the father of thehydrofoil in the USSR -Rotislav Alekseev - tofinish his first commercialhydrofoil design for inlandwaterways, the Raketa.Launched in 1957, thedesign became verypopular and widelyspread and units can beseen in service to thisday. Up through theseventies and eighties theyard continud buildinghydrofoils in largequantities; bothexperimental craft andproduction vessels suchas the Meteor, Kometaand Voskhod. The Katranhydrofoil is a refinedvariant of the Kolhida,which did also appear inthe 80s as replacementfor the Kometa.

The sea-going Katran is designed to operate intropical or moderate climate, up to 50 miles from aport of refuge and on inland seas or large lakeswhere the distance between two ports of refugedoes not exceed 200 miles.The main engines are two MTU 12V 396 TE 74diesels with an output of 2,520 kW at 1,900 rpm,giving the vessel a service speed of 34 knots.The foil arrangement comprises two main bearingfoils fore + aft, a midship foil and a stabilizerabove the bow foil. Bow and stern foils and strutsare of stainless steel, whereas the mid-foil andstabilizer as well as the supports of the forwardand aft foils are made of aluminum-magnesiumalloy.

The Seaflight Hydrofoil Katrans carries 140 passengers in two main saloons plus five to seven crew seven crew.


W h e r et h e r i v e r

Formed in 1999 Les Dauphinsdu St-Laurent, based inMontreal, is another youngCanadian hydrofoil operatorwhich commenced operation lastyear. The company owns five 68-seat Voskhod hydrofoils,Cassiopea II, Corona Borealis, PolinaIII, Sirius I and Vega I, previouslyemployed on the River Dneprbetween Kiev andDnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. Les Dauphins operatesseasonal services, normally June-September, on the St. LawrenceSeaway to and from Montrealand Trois-Rivières and as far asQuébec City. A distance of some250 km, or 160 miles, if you takethe scenic north shore highwayrunning almost parallel to the St.Lawrence and which is coveredin four hours by the Voskhods. In addition 2-hour excursiontrips from Montreal to thehistoric village of Vercheres arebeing operated. The 2001 schedule was fromJune 22nd to September 4th.However, the vessels can bechartered by organized groups,for events, etc. outside of thesedates as long as it is during thenavigational season, of course.Winters can be pretty harsh inCanada!


One round trip to Trois-Rivières andQuébec was being operated every day of theweek, departing Montreal 07:30 and arrivingat Trois-Rivières 09:30 and Québec 11:30.Between June 22nd and July 30th the reversejourney left Québec 15:30 and Trois-Rivières17:30 arriving back at Montreal at 20:00.From August 1–September 4 the serviceleft/arrived one hour earlier. The Vercheres service, which includes a 15-minute guided tour of the village, departedevery two hours between 10:00 and 19:00. During the 2000 and 2001 seasons some15,000 passengers were carried betweenMontreal and Québec. Examples on fares charged on the LesDauphins hydrofoils in 2001: Montreal–Trois-Rivières (or v/v) CAD 39 adult oneway and CAD 69 return, and Montreal–Québec CAD 79 and CAD 129 respectively.Round trip tickets were offered with an openreturn valid throughout the season. TheVercheres excursion tour was from CAD 34;for an additional five dollars you couldprolong your stay here and participate in aone-hour walking tour of the village and

return to Montreal on a later service. Reducedfares applied to children, students and peopleof the Age d'Or – the Golden Age. Bicyclesare carried on the craft Dutch-style and costCAD 5. Plans for the 2002 season include adding asecond round trip to and from Québec andpossibly a stop en-route at Sorel, on the southshore, plus a new Tour of the Port sightseeingtrip to be operated seven times a day. Also,operations are expected to commence in May,rather than June, and the timetable will bedivided into four periods instead of two with adifferentiated price scale. n

Above : Polina III is one of five formerUkrainian Voskhods owned by LesDauphins du St-Laurent and operatedbetween Montreal and Québec(Les Dauphins du St-Laurent)

' Where the river narrows' – The Algonquin Indian word for (the province of ) Québec; Kebec


classic sh tso

"Isn't thatthe most

beautiful thingyou've ever

seen"

Garry Fry, who also reports on his scratch-built PT.50 Fairlight model inthis issue, says about this charming classic shot: One of the old hydrofoil engineers I worked with when I was adeckhand told me a story, that an inbound ship's master called hiscrew in excitement to "have a look at this" as the then brand newFairlight approached them in the western channel on its way toManly in 1966. As the hydrofoil went past he remarked, "Isn't that themost beautiful thing you've ever seen! "And who can blame him for that comment. Garry believes congratulations ought to be extended to thenaval architects and designers at the Rodriquez shipyard forrefining the appearance of the original Supramar PT.50, whichappeared back in 1959, into the most handsome, well-proportionedand timeless fast ferry design of all times. If the PT.50/S, as this variantwas known (also see the July/August 2001 classic fast ferries) , waslaunched today it would still look as futuristic as it did in 1966. Fairlight arrived in Sydney, Australia from Messina as deck cargo onNovember 8th, 1966 and entered service four days later with Port Jackson &Manly Steamship Co. between Circular Quay and Manly as well as onsightseeing tours of Sydney harbor. It was withdrawn from service in 1986and eventually scrapped two years later.

PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN, COLLECTION OF G. FRY

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Classic Fast Ferries · 2012-10-19 · 2 classicfastferries 7 – 2001 or the model brigade of classic fast ferries readers, here is my 1:16.667 scale Radio Controlled unfinished