Virgin Hydrofoil

Hello Ian,

Yes, it used to run between St. Thomas and St. Croix, maybe back in 97-99 or thereabouts.

--Islander

I think they had rampant mechanical problems, and to my knowledge, it became unfeasible to run the route.

Ian, hydrofoils have been used around here for years. In the early 60s there was the Flying Fish, an orange one that ran between here and the BVIs. In the late 60s another larger one showed up. This one went to St. Croix. Then in the 90s there were two Russian ones that ran between St. Thomas and St. Croix and maybe Puertp Rico. The Flying Fish kept hitting her foils on reefs. The other two went bankrupt. Our waters change daily as you may have seen by now. Only certain days are good for those types of boats. People don't like to be trashed about when taking a boat and that's all a hydrofoil is about, if the water isn't flat!
I have even seen a hovercraft business trying to get started between here and the BVIs. That didn't wrok either!
Ronnie

Thanks all for the info,

I was wondering why there wasn't hydrofoil service here.

And then I started talking to a friend whos really into hydrofoils.

And then I started researching them and found pictures of one that ran here.

It seems like alot of the hydrofoils ive read about can handle pretty rough water. Maybe the technology has improved lately.

Ian