When the Hovercraft came on the Channel scene in the early 70s it caused quite a stir, being seen as the wave of the future for such sea crossings, going at speeds that dwarfed other ferries.

Brits preened with pride in British engineering and technology on this craft that hovered on a cushion of air and not the water.

But to be competitive pricewise there was a need for large craft and with the surge in oil prices the craft fell out of favor. Only a few giant Hovercraft, such as the Princess Anne were ever built.

But for three decades the Hovercraft swished across the Channel more quickly than EuroTunnel manages to take cars today - the record Hovercraft crossing was a mere 22 minutes.

And the trip was designed to resemble air travel - stewardesses and stewards.

With the Hovercraft's last hurrah in 2000 it seemed the Hovercraft would be consigned to Davey Jones' Locker, even though similar vessels still go to and from the Isle of Wight.

But a true Hovercraft revival entails an experimental route that within a few weeks and for a period of a month or two will operate on the Firth of Forth between Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy.

The operator Stagecoach has been accused by some of doing this route to PM Gordon Brown's home contituency is trying to influence the PM to continue funding.

Ah the Hovercraft - i remember several Channel crossings - kind of bumpy at times and i always felt better on car ferries.

But for a taste of the old days go to Isle of Wight or the Firth of Forth

I used the hovercraft as vehicle of choice to cross the channel. As a woman travelling alone, I just felt happier on the hovercraft. Always had a set of ear plugs with me for the trip. I was glad when the tunnel opened and have used that a lot - next trip I will be going cheaply and using Speedferries.
The IOW hovercraft doesn't take cars. That was the great thing about the cross channel one.
I think the Princesses were sold off to another country to continue srvice there, but I'm not sure. Since they were 20 years past their sell-by-date they did very well!

I always thought it neatly combined the disadvantages of flying and surface ships. A hell of a racket, confined to your seat AND if there were waves of any height you got the thumps and dips. Pure purgatory.

ah the sweet smell of misty salt water and fuel smells wafting in!

Spot on Patrick!

I always thought the main reasons for its demise were a) the fact it couldn't cope with bad weather and b) the fact a very sizeable proportion of the passengers were sick on every journey!

PalenQ - 'Brits preened with pride in British engineering and technology on this craft '. Are you sure you're not thinking of Concorde?!

The Princess Margaret hovercraft is currently at the Hovercraft Museum, Lee on Solent, Hampshire. I drove past it a few weeks back.

You can still travel by hovercraft from Portsmouth to Ryde, Isle of Wight, but that is foot passengers only. Hovercraft are noisy, smelly, beasts, but the fastest method of crossing water short of flying.

Crossing the English Channel now is really a choice between the Tunnel and traditional ferry, although there are fast ferries on some routes. As far as time taken is concerned, you have to consider many factors such as time to load and unload, check-in times, delays in passing through immigration, frequency of service, and how far you are from the port.

My most recent crossings have been through the tunnel, where the service is frequent and you can take an earlier or later service if necessary depending on when you arrive at the terminal. Watching the sea break over the bows of the ferries at Dover last week confirmed my preference.

Interesting, PalenQ - I hadn't heard about this ! Where did you ? Maybe it was announced while I was on holiday.

Not that I have any reason to go to Kirkcaldy

I took a hovercraft trip across Manila Bay back in August 1982. Actually I took 1.5 trips as on the first trip to Corregidor the Hovercraft caught fire (confined to engine compartment and quickly extinguished) and had to limp back to Manila. I took a second Hovercraft and finally arrived at Corregidor and returned safely.

Oddest thing of all, the craft was built in my hometown in Florida! We actually had a Hovercraft plant for several years in the 70's.

MvK

<'Brits preened with pride in British engineering and technology on this craft '. Are you sure you're not thinking of Concorde?!>

this was paraphrasing the Guardian article i based this on - Caroline - July 2, 2007 Guardian gives this info on the Edinburgh-Kirkaldy trial run

For many years, hovercraft were looked upon as a great British invention, but the reality is that they were a commercial flop. Various routes were tried in the 1960s and early 70s, but few lasted more than a few months.
The cross-channel car-carrying craft never caught-on anywhere else in the world, and they have all been scrapped or kept as museum pieces.
This latest venture across the Firth of Forth is a sad attempt by an unscrupulous bus company to get subsidies from government and local authorities.
The remaining hovercraft service to the Isle of Wight is, I think, the only one of its type in Europe. There are very good reasons why the idea didn't catch on elsewhere.

Ah right, thanks - sigh... I was halfway up a mountain in Tuscany then.

It was like so many bright ideas that look as though they fill an important gap in the market that somehow turns out not to be there.

I don't think anyone ever thought it'd fill a gap in a market. It was just a clever piece of technology whose inventor and boosters thought it was beneath them to worry about whether anyone wanted it. And why should they, when they could always go whingeing for more public subsidy?

At least Concorde was based on a real need. It simply turned out impossible to meet that need commercially.

Take the Hovercraft to Isle of Wight and then from the pier you can board 1930s vintage London Tube cars that serve as the island's rail line.

The Tube cars promise to outlast the Hovercraft

I live 10 miles from the Portsmouth to IOW hovercraft. The old cross channel ones (and many others) are as stated at Lee on Solent, 4 miles from my house. I never travelled on them, but have to agree they were never destined for commerical success. I think they were developed with a military use in mind, which we (UK) had a brief flirtation with that did not last too long. our life boat instituion (RNLI) have just started using small ones for mud rescue situations. I have travelled on the IOW one - it is very noisy, but certainly is quick...